Presidential "Politubing" and the Internet

It's a term picked up by conservative political blogger Andrew Sullivan that means political campaigning through YouTube-style video, and it's a sign of how much of a role the internet will play in the 2008 Presidential election. More and more candidates are hiring internet-savvy consultants to help them use online sites like MySpace and YouTube to get their message out to the people, through videos, chats, podcasts and social networking. But the internet will also serve as a forum where user-generated content like the now infamous Hillary Clinton 1984(video) mashup can make an impact in a campaign, for better or for worse. We'll look at how the presidential candidates are using the internet - and how the internet is using them. Laura's guests are James Pindell, Political Correspondent for the Washington Bureau of the Boston Globe and former editor for PolitcsNH.com, a New Hampshire political news website; Patrick Hynes, founder and proprietor of Ankle Biting Pundits, a long-time Republican consultant and President of New Media Strategics which currently has Senator John McCain as a client; and Andrew Rasiej, a long-time Democratic consultant, chairman of the Howard Dean Technology Advisory Council for the 2004 election and cofounder of TechPresident.com, a new group blog that covers how the 2008 presidential candidates are using the web, and vice versa, and how content generated by voters is affecting the campaign.