Four years ago the internet, specifically the blogosphere, propelled Howard Dean from obscurity to a viable candidacy for the democratic presidential nomination.
In the past year the internet, specifically the ability to generate huge numbers of small online contributions, helped make Barak Obama a viable candidate for the democratic presidential nomination.
Nothing, however, may be as significant as what has happened this week, specifically the ability of Youtube to permit millions of people to view Barak Obama's speech on race and religion in its entirety -- without editing and commentary. In less than two days, the video has been downloaded by more than 1.6 million people and more are viewing it every hour.
The day when politics was dominated by media sound bites and bumper sticker slogans is over. The corporate media and the right-wing noise machine no longer have a monopoly over public political discussion.
Henceforth, all politicians are going to have to learn to articulate thoughtful positions addressing the issues that concern people.
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