Web 2.0 and politics

Web2.0 has proved itself as an excellent communication tool. If it's being used for marketing, then how can politics be far behind....if we take a macro view of the situation, politics to some extent is a form of marketing...marketing the candidate, marketing the political party etc.

Interesting evidence is available from overseas about the usage of this communication tool in politics...India of course cannot claim to be part of this...why would the Indian politicians bother... their vote banks lie in those lands where web 2.0 is of no consequence.

An interesting case in point is that of Barack Obama, a presidential candidate in the U.S elections. He started his own network My.BarackObama.com. Such networks help in-

1.Giving Visibility
2.Showcasing the entire campaign
3.Highlighting all good work towards social causes
4.Can generate online contributions and hence be part of the entire fundraising activity.

Hillary Clinton posted a message on Yahoo Groups -"What do you think we should do to improve health care in America"and got thousands of responses. She thus opened a new avenue to showcase her commitment to the welfare of the people, while at the same time opened up a discussion giving her own cause substantial visibility.
These tactics may not help a candidate win an election in totality, but they definitely open up a new avenue to reach the end-customer, who is the voter in this case.As more and more people join an online political network , courtesy the social causes they talk about, the volume of people a prospective political candidate can reach out to, at the click of a single button is amazing.

With Hillary already experimenting with online advertising, the time is not far when advertising on blogs,community sites and other high traffic websites will become the norm every election season.....