2008 Election Changes Presidential Campaign Politics

The 2008 presidential election between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama has undoubtedly changed the way campaigns are structured and fought. It has molded a new path for the future elections on how to reach voters, raise money, organize supporters, manage the news media and the web 2.0 space, alter public opinion, and deal with political attacks. This historic election has also proven that Democrats can have an impact on states and areas that have strong Republican roots. Also, the makeup of American voters has changed, with this election drawing in record numbers of new black, Hispanic and young voters.

Mark McKinnon, a senior advisor to President Bush's 2000 and 2004 campaign, states "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. The year the paradigm got turned upside down and truly became bottom up instead of top down."

Republicans and Democrats say that this may be due to the strong understanding the Obama campaign had on internet space. The campaign was able to organize supporters and reach voters through new media avenues to people who no longer mainly rely on information from newspapers and television. Some examples include YouTube, which did not exist in 2004, and text messages via cell phones reminding people to vote.

Obama's campaign may also put an end to public financing. The democratic party ensured success using the internet and viral marketing to build a huge group of contributors to raise enough money to reach and compete in traditionally Republican states. Obama's efforts in advertising to voters in places like Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia who previously had little exposure to Democratic ideas and candidates will force candidates to think differently in the future.

Obama's efforts have made way for a technological shift in politics and in essence reflect a cultural shift in voters, providing America with an audience that is more diverse and better informed.