By Brian Schatz

History will mark this election year in three ways. First, as the epic, groundbreaking battle between
pioneering candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Second, as the end of one of the most unsuccessful presidencies in American history. Finally, it’s the first Presidential race in which the Internet plays a central role. The impact of small contributions, Youtube, blogs, and email are literally revolutionary.

But just because this communications medium turned the world upside down doesn’t mean it’s doing so here in Hawaii. So how do we know when the Internet age is changing Hawaii’s political scene? I think it’s too early to tell whether the Web is transforming Hawaii‚s politics, but here are a few key indicators to help us figure out whether or not the revolution has arrived in the islands.

A YouTube Moment
Voters are increasingly accessing both positive and negative information about public officials and government actions using the Internet. On the bright side, this means voters can watch a whole speech rather than a sound bite, but it also raises the risk that otherwise manini mistakes become campaign deathblows.

Here in Hawaii, we haven’t yet seen a YouTube clip get circulated with much velocity. Politicians everywhere use the web to push out their message, but the real revolution comes when users and voters start circulating messages without any control from the campaigns or the media. We just haven’t seen that happen so far here.

An Internet Funded Candidate
With the exception of Big Island Mayor Harry Kim, we haven’t had a successful small-money candidate for major office in decades. But could it really happen here? I think all doubt was removed about the power of small donors with the emergence of the most effective fundraising machine in political history – the Obama campaign. With an average gift of less than 100 dollars and none of it coming from federal lobbyists or PACS, the world of money and politics has been turned upside down. But here in the islands, things are pretty much the same that they’ve always been. When we see an Internet funded campaign for a local office, then we’ll know the change is here.

People who blog for money
We have several excellent political blogs locally – starting with Ian Lind (Ilind.net) and Doug White (poinography.com) and rounded out by several solid ones housed by the Honolulu Advertiser. But compared to the activity on the mainland, it’s nearly nothing. Despite the fact that some of these blogs have better political information than mainstream reporting, there just isn’t sufficient readership to enable the bloggers to actually be compensated for their work.

Think it’s impossible? Well, consider Dailykos.com, a blog set up by one person, which built momentum over the last five years, and now has millions of visitors every day, better than many mainstream national news sites. The time will come when political blogging is a viable business in Hawaii, but we‚re not there yet.

There’s no longer any question that the Internet will radically change the way we understand and participate in Hawaii’s political system, but when this transformation finally arrives is anybody’s guess.

Best Hawaii blogs:
www.Ilind.net
www.Poinography.com
www.Hawaiireporter.com
www.Hunterbishop.com

Best National Blogs:
www.Drudgereport.com
http://Thepage.time.com
www.Dailykos.com
http://corner.nationalreview.com/