Very interesting political stuff

In '08 Race, Web Tactics Are Even More Integral - WSJ.com

So, for me, it comes down to one question, phrased two different ways...built from an understanding that the Republicans (at least in 2004) have shown a much better system for generating typical "grass roots" support while Democrats have tended to better cultivate "digital roots."

1. At what point will "Digital Roots" become a more powerful force than "Grass Roots"

or, perhaps better put:

2. At what point will Internet usage become so common and comfortable for a large enough body of Americans that "Digital Roots" and "Grass Roots" will no longer be distinguishable from each other?

I would argue it is very easy to make the distinctions now. Matter of fact, you can start by looking at the Internet statistics displayed in this WSJ article...John McCain (leading among Republicans) has had 296k unique visitors to his campaign site. That would place him a distant 4th among Democrats. I'll skip comparing the MySpace friends numbers because I am convinced those are still, essentially, meaningless.

So "Grass Roots" support remains more a Republican specialty. "Digital Roots" belong to the Dems. How will that affect the race? It certainly makes it easier for Dems to get their message out more quickly (if they are well organized) and likely gives them a greater ability to raise cash on short notice (assuming they also hold a lead in online fund raising - something I haven't looked into very deeply).

As the article says,

Greater emphasis by campaigns on the Internet "is recognition that the game is radically changing ... It's the Moore's Law in politics. Every two years it all doubles or more but this year, it's more than doubled."