Schmidt thinks the advantage lies with campaigns that best use analytical tools to understand the voters that visit their sites. When a person clicks on a link on a Web site, it creates a record and tracks that user. It’s the same basic technology used by dozens of major corporations as they try to protect and expand their markets.

When campaigns understand their Web users, they can target those people with different techniques. They can tell which supporters might be more likely to respond to a targeted e-mail vs. those who will respond to Web video.

“We keep forgetting that we’re really selling toothpaste,” Steffen said. “People who sell toothpaste know an awful lot about people who brush their teeth.”

That said, nothing is guaranteed for the Web campaigning. Steffen said Web sites are a proven way to raise money for campaigns. Their ability to translate supporters into voters is less proven.

Web campaigning also generates cautionary tales. McCain’s campaign was embarrassed when online activists focused on a photo of the senator in Baghdad. The campaign touted the photo as an example of growing safety in Iraq. The campaign’s photo was cropped to cut out the troops surrounding McCain. The full photo appeared on several Web sites, along with heavy criticism.

The most glaring example of the Web crippling a campaign may come from Virginia. It’s an example Cornfield points to in his comments on the interplay between the web and politics. U.S. Sen. George Allen’s campaign for re-election in 2006 was badly hurt by his reference to a rival campaign’s worker as “Macaca.” Many saw the butchered name as a racial slur.

The comment didn’t make waves at the time, but a YouTube video of Allen’s speech transformed it into a major issue. He lost his bid for re-election.

That impact helps illustrate the raw power of the Web. It’s a power even those who live and breathe politics are struggling to understand.

“I think they’re experimenting with this,” Steffen said. The real question at the end of the day is whether these tools are what is going to get a person the nomination.”

Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com