If you want to know where communication and technology are headed, look no further than victorious presidential campaigns. For the better part of a century, candidates have used new technologies as a means to communicate carefully crafted messages to the electorate.

Franklin Roose-velt's grandfatherly baritone boomed into homes through the legendary "fireside" radio chats in which he tried to restore American confidence. Lacking an immediate image to correspond to the voice, most Americans were never aware that President Roosevelt was speaking from a wheelchair.

Twenty-five years later, John F. Kennedy understood that the dawn of television meant that the visual image was paramount. Therefore, he donned heavy pancake makeup and appeared unshakable in the face of a far more experienced Richard Nixon during the 1960 presidential debate, the first to be televised, and ultimately a turning point in his campaign.

A great many people with law degrees tend to find their way to assisting with political campaigns, working for elected officials or running for office themselves. Therefore, as the 2008 campaigns finally come to a close, it is worth a look at how campaigns can or did use the same technologies this column continually encourages practicing lawyers to explore.

Much like Kennedy understood the new importance of the visual, President-elect Barack Obama understood the recent communications shift to individualized communication devices and platforms. This is not to say that Sen. John McCain's campaign did not also employ communications methods using new technologies, but it was far slower on the uptake than Obama's team, and did not have a carefully orchestrated technological- communications game plan.

Getting the message

"Throughout history," says Ronald Smith, professor and chair of the communications department at Buffalo State College, "communication technology has continually added new opportunities (for political campaigns). We never lose the former methods, and there will continue to be a place for radio, TV ads, engagement with print and broadcast reporters, meeting with editorial boards, etc.

"But now we have satellite video conferencing and, most importantly, a range of new media: blogs, social-networking media such as Facebook, presentation methods such as YouTube and Flickr, and so on," he says. "I think we will see that the 2008 presidential election is the turning point that historians will point to on when political candidates began to embrace new media in efforts to raise money, generate support and gain votes - particularly among younger citizens and those not plugged into the traditional media of television, radio, newspapers and magazines."

In January 2007, not long after he announced his campaign for the presidency, Obama met with friend Marc Andreessen, one of the founders of Netscape and a board member of Facebook. The topic of discussion between the two men was how to use online social networking to enhance Obama's political effort. And use it he did.

The Obama campaign successfully used Twitter as a constant means of communication with supporters, started and encouraged others to start Facebook groups supporting him, employed hundreds of people to monitor and post comments favorable to Obama on blogs, strategically disseminated videos onto YouTube and, in the process, collected countless e-mail address and demographic information about the people who would or might be voting for him.

Media specialists are only beginning to study the impact of Obama's use of technology, but the general consensus is that it was a quintessential ingredient in both his general-election success and in emerging the victor from the long and contentious primary battle with Sen. Hillary Clinton. Further, Obama portrayed an image of understanding what is new and different by using cutting-edge communication tools. He, like many of his young supporters, is always on his BlackBerry - though perhaps not for long, as he will likely have to give it up as president because of security concerns.

As a candidate, Obama often did not bother with the traditional media. He rarely put himself in a position to field direct questions from the credentialed press. Some view eliminating the middle man and communicating directly with supporters as minimizing questions of media bias and news organizations' "angles" on stories. On the other hand, there is limited opportunity for the average citizen to hit "reply" and ask a question about a message sent to millions. It is much harder for a politician to ignore a reporter there, in the flesh, asking a direct question about policy. Avoiding possibly combative reporters makes image control that much easier.

More interesting questions arise as candidate Obama becomes President Obama. He has the means to get in touch with potential supporters at any time, and in many ways. It is likely that some form of new communication will be used since it was recently announced that, once he's sworn in as president, Obama's weekly radio address will now be available on YouTube. Either way, his team has a jump-start on 2012, when others will no doubt try to duplicate and build on his efforts.

On the local front

Campaigns directed at a more localized population are obviously different than a national campaign for president. The full effect of new communications methods has not reached Western New York politics yet. But they are on their way.

By far, the most competitive local race of 2008 was that for New York state's 26th Congressional District, which featured a heated Democratic primary between Iraq War veteran Jon Powers and lawyer Alice Kryzan. Kryzan eventually lost in the general election to Republican businessman Chris Lee, now Congressman-elect.

Many have said that Kryzan took the primary in large part due to her use of traditional media, including a well-crafted television ad strategically aired during the Democratic National Convention. Both Kryzan and Lee employed the use of Facebook pages, but neither with tremendous traffic (each one's Facebook page listed supporters at approximately 200). Rep. Brian Higgins of the 27th District also uses a Facebook page.

However, the use of new media will likely continue to grow with local candidates, especially following the success of Obama. Moreover, the use of the Internet helps bring younger voters into the fold, something local politicians have not always succeeded at.

Twenty-year-old Marine and Iraq War veteran Scott Dempsey, a native of Amherst, was an early supporter of fellow veteran Jon Powers, using both Facebook and ActBlue, a Web site that allows people to donate to Democratic candidates of their choice around the country.

"I supported Jon largely because we're fellow veterans," Dempsey noted. "I also saw him in the Obama mold of understanding technology as the economic driver of our future, and a way to gather broad-based opinions and support. When he lost I didn't have the same enthusiasm to support someone who wasn't from my generation. I did use Facebook and Actblue to support Jon. I also emailed/Facebooked my friends to get involved."

Although he had reservations about doing so, once Powers lost, Dempsey offered his support to Kryzan's campaign, and let that fact be known by joining her group on Facebook.

Caroline Brancatella is a law clerk for a federal judge in Philadelphia, Pa. A member of the New York state bar, she can be reached at cbrancatella@gmail.com.