"As the presidential race heated up, the internet grew from being the medium of a core group of political junkies to a gateway for millions of ordinary Americans to participate in the political process, donating odd amounts of their spare time to their candidate through online campaign tools."
Stirland, S. (2008) "Propelled by Internet, Barack Obama Wins Presidency " Retrieved from http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/11/propelled-by-in.html on April 12, 2009.
This is the smartest thing that any presidential candidate could have done, especially considering how no prior electoral candidate even considered it. Nowadays, any online business will tell you how inexpensive, yet incredibly efficient having a virtual presence is in a target customer's life is. You are no longer restricted to a brick & mortar building, and can easily reach the eyes of your consumer in the comfort of their own home. Using the Internet as a medium for communication, broadcasting your message, and establishing a relationship with the people that have the support you need is by far the fastest way anyone could imagine, as you can be in countless locations at once, and you can also incorporate everyone's participation, without regard to geographic or other restrictions.
Certain businesses I've personally done business with have spoken about how cost-effective having an online-only storefront, as their costs are significantly lower than they would be with a physical presence, and their outreach goes much farther than they ever could have hoped by catering to a national (or larger) consumer audience. I think that the way that Obama took advantage of this medium was pure genius, as he put himself directly in the middle of where people already want to be, and made his presence felt to all who had eyes and ears.
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