The Washington Times has a story about the battle being waged across the blogosphere long before the 2008 Presidential Race begins:
In an attempt to reach the MySpace generation, politicians are turning to the virtual campaign trail. Dedicated political junkies are setting up their own sites devoted to encouraging presidential runs from their favorite candidates — former Vice President Al Gore, Sen. John McCain and the two Democratic superstars currently topping polls, Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton.
“Happy New Year to the future president of the United States of America,” Leapin Larry told Mr. Obama Sunday on one of the fan sites, which has more than 21,000 friends.
Michele, a 28-year-old from Orange Beach, Ala., tells the former first lady: “Hillary, you fixed ny. I’d love to see you as president. Go for it, you would fix this country.”
Some of the candidate MySpace pages are official, such as the sites run by 2004 vice presidential candidate Mr. Edwards and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack — both Democrats seeking the 2008 nomination. Others, such as the nearly 100 sites created in Mrs. Clinton’s name, are run by anonymous Web surfers.
If popularity were gauged by MySpace, Mr. Clark, a Democrat with an official “Securing America” page, is winning with more than 45,000 friends, and Mrs. Clinton, New York Democrat, is the best-known.
Fortunately, the future of America is not decided by the people who frequent MySpace.
