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You Said You Wanted (Campaign) Revolution ...

2008 changes US elections forever

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 4, 2008 5:11 AM CST

(Newser) – Campaign drama has overshadowed the fact that 2008 has permanently changed the way elections are fought in America, the New York Times reports. From now on, supporters will be organized in new ways and funds will be raised differently, due primarily to brave new media worlds. With the help of tools like YouTube that didn't exist in 2004, even methods of attack—and response—have changed dramatically.

Barack Obama's campaign has led the way in the internet transformation of campaigning. Its efforts to reach out to and register new voters in Republican strongholds may have redrawn the electoral map—for the candidate who fills the bill. "Without the candidate who excites people, you can have the greatest strategy and machinery, and it won’t matter," said Obama's campaign manager.

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (2)]

This computer image shows an advertisement for Barack Obama inserted in the XBox360 Live version of the video game 'Need for Speed: Carbon.' (AP Photo/Electronic Arts, Inc. via Obama Campaign)

Barack Obama answers questions from Coe College students during an MTV/Myspace presidential forum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/David Lienemann)

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I think we’ll be analyzing this election for years as a seminal, transformative race—the year campaigns leveraged the internet in ways never imagined. The year we went to warp speed.
- Mark McKinnon, senior adviser to President Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns

They were Apollo 11, and we were the Wright Brothers. - Joe Trippi, manager of Howard Dean's 2004 campaign, speaking about Barack Obama's team

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You Said You Wanted (Campaign) Revolution ...