The 2008 Presidential Revolution

As we bring to a close a long 2 yrs in the race for the White House, we are not only living in history with the first African American Candidate getting this far, we are witnessing history in the process.

Technology has given Americans more access than ever to information. The Internet, with the millions of sites that offer both pictorial, audio and text resources to get information about most anything you could possibly want to know, has eliminated the old way of campaigning.

In years before, the candidates relied on TV and Newspapers to get the word out to voters. They toured the country giving their stump speeches and even though the media covered a lot of stuff, still a lot was left to our imagination. We had to accept many things they said without knowing if they were really lying or not. We were not able to go back to when they were young and get visuals on how they behaved.

Now with YouTube, Twitter, and millions more places to look and interact with other people, nothing is left to our imagination anymore. The only way that a person could still not know what is going on with the candidates is for them not to work, not own a computer or not care.

This phenomenon is changing the rules of the game for Presidential Candidates. I would venture to say this is the beginning of the end of the "Old" Politics across the board. More and more governmental agencies are posting their business online for the public to see. This is setting us up for more disclosure and closer public monitoring of the government .

In this election, we have seen the value of listening to both Barack and John make their speeches across the country and then verifying the claims they have made. Time after time, we have seen both candidates have to retract a statement or claim. They have had to correct things that were blown out of proportion on many occasions as well. They have also had to accept responsibility for errors in judgment and for failed strategies.

We have all seen the YouTube debacle of John McCain on the issue of him calling his wife such an ugly name. We watched Joe Biden played over and over with his sliced and diced misstatements. And of course the most famous of all videos, now with millions of hits, is the SNL skits with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin.

We have been given access to many outlets that we have never before been given. Every news, radio and tv channel has a website and an email. Many like Larry King Live, CNN and MSNBC have live blogs that you can send questions or comments directly to them. Rick Sanchez, Twitters, so he reads many questions and comments live on the air. They have instant reactions to anything that has occurred in the campaign.

I am not sure where we are going with technology. I do know that this is the game changer for America. No longer can they tell us stuff and we just follow like sheep. America has embraced the technology we have been given and it is going to require a different breed of politician to win in the future.

We see that Barack Obama has embraced the technology as well in this election. He has used every avenue to get his message out. He even advertises on video games like X Box. Just the fact that he is so savvy in technology has attracted him thousands of young voters. Young voters that have taught America how to be more aware of the information out there.

It is the young voters that craved and required more and more advancement on the Internet. In doing that, they have changed this election.

Technology is a wonderful thing and I think it is going to make America better by creating more truth in choosing these leaders of our country. That is a good thing.