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I am a candidate for the 2008 presidential race. I can spend money, I can stump my legs off, I can speak on national television, run ad campaigns and sling some mud or I can expose my campaign to the world on the Internet. Here are the pros and cons of Internet exposure for candidates. The Internet provides 24 hour access to anyone within reach. If you are at work, you can sneak a peak at the latest polls without the boss catching you. The Internet slows things down to a grass roots level. You can read at your own speed or watch videos to consume knowledge that would otherwise be interrupted by commercials or just go over your head. The Internet provides vast resources of information on just about any subject known to mankind. If you want to find your answer, just Google until you do. The Internet is as good as it gets when it comes to getting quick, complete, comprehensible information on a subject. The good thing for politicians is that they can be disseminated, recognized and read as well as seen and heard anywhere at any time. The bad news is probably much the same, if there is a stumble or controversy involving a candidate, everyone will know at light speed. The Internet is good in one aspect, that it gets information out to everyone. The downfall is that the media has a large hand in what ends up on the critical sites. Whatever people read, the generally will believe. Sometimes money and other issues may get one candidate more positive or negative press than another. This can catapult one of the candidates into actually being elected. Sort of a hearsay locomotive. The facts do not always matter. Sometimes familiarity is enough. If all you see all day is Obama and Huckabee coverage, you may end up choosing one of them, simply because that is all you are exposed to. To this I say elections and campaigns are greatly effected by internet viewers.

Learn more about this author, Brian Wilkins.
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