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Change Has Already Been Delivered—to Campaigning

The '08 version redrew the political map and ruptured the financing system, and more

By Gabriel Winant,  Newser User

Posted Nov 3, 2008 9:27 AM CST

(Newser) – We can't be sure what kind of change the next president will bring, but we do know that presidential campaigns themselves will never be the same, writes Gerald F. Seib in the Wall Street Journal. Among this year’s innovations:

  • The campaigns have redrawn the political map, making previously locked states competitive, like Virginia, and placing increasing emphasis on the Mountain West.

  • The Internet has become central to spreading campaign messages and responding to attacks immediately—sometimes before the other side even launches them.
  • Democrats have also used the web to short-circuit the old financing system, and may prompt a rewrite of campaign-finance law.
  • FDR and Ronald Reagan might not recognize their parties anymore: Democrats are winning among those earning over $75,000 a year and gaining ground with evangelicals, while the GOP’s best segment of the workforce wears blue collars.

Barack Obama appears with Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, left, and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano during a rally in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Barack Obama appears with Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, left, and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano during a rally in Daytona Beach, Fla.   (AP Photo)
Republican presidential candidate John McCain smiles as he takes the podium at the start of a campaign rally in Miami today.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain smiles as he takes the podium at the start of a campaign rally in Miami today.   (AP Photo)
David Axelrod, chief campaign strategist for Democratic presidential candidate, after the presidential debate on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.
David Axelrod, chief campaign strategist for Democratic presidential candidate, after the presidential debate on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.   (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
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The stunning fund-raising success of Sen. Obama virtually guarantees that future campaigns will cost more and that the way money is raised to pay for them will be vastly different. - Gerald F. Seib

McCain will still win the evangelical vote, but I think we've proven a lot on those grounds. - Mara Vanderslice, Democratic evangelical activist

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