The 2008 US presidential race saw the Internet placed at the heart of the Obama campaign strategy in a way never seen before. This book will attempt to answer the question "how significant is the Internet as a medium of political communication" by analyzing the role of the Internet within the context of the established bodies of literature on political marketing and civic engagement. By highlighting the existing debates in these two fields, and by then examining the Obama campaign within these, this book will seek to show that the Internet must now be considered a vital medium of political communication.