If there is one thing that’s different about election 2008, it’s that a woman and a black man were my party’s main contenders. If there are two things, however, the second would have to be the true advent of social networking and internet based communication in the election. Unsurprisingly to me, it’s the candidate of youth, Barack Obama, who has from day one had a website that reflected this dynamic more than either Hillary Clinton or John McCain.

People forget that Obama announced the formation of his presidential exploratory committee via a video message e-mailed to his supporters. His website features almost every major appearance he’s made in video and text format. His campaign blog features real time updates from the campaign trail. He also managed to create a social networking system with the breadth and success of facebook, now adorably called myBO. This is in addition to the fact that his website is slick, modern, and absurdly user friendly for the undecided voter.

He recently launched a mobile website for users on the go, featuring wallpapers, ringtones (Yes We Can!, anyone?), news, videos, and the option to get e-mailed whitepapers (see: policy papers) from your phone. This is in addition to the ridiculous number of text messages his campaign sends out weekly. The biggest text being, of course, the VP Text Message.

It’s weird to be at the forefront of history. Can anyone imagine what the history books will say about Obama’s VP announcement. I personally am going to go with “The Text Message Heard ‘Round the World” (let me know if you have a better one in mind). With one announcement, Pbama placed more media frenzy on the VP pick than I thought could be possible. Some will inevitably say it was a letdown, either because it was Biden, or because the media leaked it early, or hell, because they don’t what the hell a text message is. Yet for two weeks, Obama brought his choice to a fever pitch, significantly boosting the coverage of his choice, my man, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. McCain’s campaign, on the other hand, is currently relegated to second tier coverage as they come on the eve of McCain’s running mate choice.

I know I got my text, and I hope you got yours. With the Democratic National Convention on the eve of completion and the Republican Convention on the horizon, I know this is going to be a fun year to follow the race for the White House.