The '08 Race: A Sea Change for Politics as We Know It

[proud2BlibKansan]

Monday 03 November 2008

by: Adam Nagourney, The New York Times


Record voter turnout is expected today. (Photo: Getty Images)

The 2008 race for the White House that comes to an end on Tuesday fundamentally upended the way presidential campaigns are fought in this country, a legacy that has almost been lost with all the attention being paid to the battle between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama.

It has rewritten the rules on how to reach voters, raise money, organize supporters, manage the news media, track and mold public opinion, and wage - and withstand - political attacks, including many carried by blogs that did not exist four years ago. It has challenged the consensus view of the American electoral battleground, suggesting that Democrats can at a minimum be competitive in states and regions that had long been Republican strongholds.

The size and makeup of the electorate could be changed because of efforts by Democrats to register and turn out new black, Hispanic and young voters. This shift may have long-lasting ramifications for what the parties do to build enduring coalitions, especially if intensive and technologically-driven voter turnout programs succeed in getting more people to the polls. Mr. McCain's advisers expect a record-shattering turnout of 130 million people, many being brought into the political process for the first time.

"I think we'll be analyzing this election for years as a seminal, transformative race," said Mark McKinnon, a senior adviser to President Bush's campaigns in 2000 and 2004. "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."

more . . .

[Winterblues]

1. The year we went to warp speed.

It sure hasn't felt like "warp speed" to me. This has been a very long campaign.. Too Darn long for me. I think the USA should adopt laws similar to other countries that make it illegal to campaign more than ninty days before an election. Ninty days is plenty of time. This two and three year long campaign BS is just that BS... I expect Palin to start campaigning for 2012 almost immediately after the election is over...I can't take it... I feel abused...