Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and potential 2008 presidential candidate, inked a deal recently to coordinate his Internet video campaign through Brightcove.

Obama posted a video Tuesday announcing he's forming an exploratory committee for the 2008 election. Brightcove will provide ongoing publication of campaign videos, creation of an Obama channel, and a syndication function that will allow bloggers and Web sites to publish campaign clips.

Brightcove looks, on the surface, similar to YouTube. But it's very different, in that YouTube is designed for consumers to share videos with each other, while Brightcove is designed to allow businesses to publish videos to the Web, says Adam Berrey, VP of marketing and strategy for the company.

Brightcove provides tools for organizing video assets, integrating them into video titles, programming them into lineups, and providing a branded, Flash-based player. Brightcove also provides tools for reporting, controlling who has access to the video, and monetiziation, allowing companies to put ads into videos. The campaign is paying for the service, says Berrey, although he declined to disclose specifics.

The deal is the latest indication that Internet video will be an important factor in the election, just as blogs were important in 2004 and 2006.

"You will see Internet video becoming a very important part of political campaigns. It's a way of having dialogue, it's a way of communicating with voters and having voters communicate back with the campaign and with each other," Berrey says.

Obama isn't the first 2008 candidate to launch an Internet video campaign. Former vice presidential candidate and senator John Edwards launched his campaign on YouTube last month and has his own YouTube channel, as did Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

Brightcove announced Tuesday that it received private financing from investors including Maverick Capital, Brookside Capital, AllianceBernstein, as well as two strategic investors, The New York Times Co. and Japanese online media and technology company Transcosmos.

Obama's campaign offices did not respond to requests for comment.