Resumen
Throughout a two-year campaign, Barack Obama's political team -- including campaign manager David Plouffe and senior adviser David Axelrod -- tapped into information technology to redefine the election process and interact with people in new and different ways. From the beginning, the Obama team understood the power of the technology and how it could be harnessed for political gain, says Deniece Peterson, principal analyst at INPUT, a Reston, VA, government-focused market research and consulting firm. It should come as no surprise that databases, social networking tools, and IT systems are likely to play a central role in the Obama administration. While new media has enormous power to help a candidate get elected, it also wields influence as a tool for operating a more efficient and transparent government -- and advancing a political agenda. As campaigns and government become more familiar with digital tools and the technology advances, the face of politics will continue to change.