We've heard presidential candidates talk about health care, immigration and the Iraq war. But what about the Obama Girl?

When reporters recently asked about the subject as he walked a picket line of striking employees outside the Congress Plaza Hotel, Barack Obama said, "That's not why we're here. I've got no comment about something like that."

Rudy Giuliani's campaign has refused to discuss the matter as well.

What's all the fuss about? A recent YouTube video featured scantily clad models fighting over who is the better candidate. One is "Giuliani Girl," the other is "Obama Girl," who made her debut in last month's "I Got A Crush On Obama" videocast, which has had more than 2 million views.

In the era of the Internet and YouTube, what happens in the virtual world increasingly is playing a role in what happens in the real world.

Starting with Howard Dean's resurgent but ultimately failed run at the Democratic nomination nearly four years ago to the more recent recasting of Hillary Rodham Clinton as Big Brother in a remake of Apple's iconic 1984 commercial, the Internet is where much of this nation's political observation and discourse is taking place. Cases in point: The Web was the venue of choice for both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama to declare their candidacies for president.

It was inevitable that political parodies would follow the candidates onto the Net.

The video vixen featured in both the "Girl" skits is Amber Lee Ettinger, a 25-year-old from Hazleton, Luzerne County, but that's not her voice you hear. The singer and the writer of the tune is Leah Kauffman, a 21-year-old Abington, Montgomery County, resident and Temple University student majoring in magazine journalism.

"I don't have to tell you that I'm not a model. I'm just more interested in singing and song-writing than I am in dancing in the video," Ms. Kauffman said.

Despite Mr. Obama's seeming discontent over the video, she sympathizes with his position.

"I can understand that. I think that it's fine. But I've heard rumors that he secretly liked it, so I'm not upset about it," she said as she giggled.

She drew attention last November with a YouTube parody of a Justin Timberlake skit aired on "Saturday Night Live." Ms. Kauffman provided the music for a video of a girl dancing around with a box attached to her pelvis. It was a big hit with viewers.

She and co-creator Ben Relles, who grew up in Philadelphia, brainstormed on what would be a fitting follow-up and settled on politics.

"Politics are huge now, obviously with the upcoming primaries. So we decided to go that route," Ms. Kauffman said.

She picked Mr. Obama as her political muse for a variety of reasons.

"I probably don't have to tell you that Barack Obama is very exciting candidate in the sense that he's really smart, really attractive and there's definitely an element of celebrity. I remember thinking he was really cute when he was running on the beach in a bathing suit. I was thinking to myself, 'Wow, what an election we're going to have.' "

Even though she is a registered Democrat, she said there was no political agenda behind the music.

"The reality is that it's created for some laughs. I'm not concerned that people take it seriously, but people should know better."

The pair's pursuit of humor explains why they picked Rudy Giuliani to serve as a foil in the "Obama Girl" sequel. Ms. Kauffman said she picked him because "he's interesting and there is a lot of information out there about him to poke fun at."