US:When Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on the three major TV news shows last Monday evening, she kept each interview brief because she was on an important deadline. As soon as the shows were over, she launched into her most serious media appearance of the day, a 30-minute chat on her website, answering questions submitted by the public and selected by her staff.
Last Saturday Mrs Clinton followed Barack Obama's example by announcing her entry into the 2008 presidential race on the internet. Republican Sam Brownback and Democrat Bill Richardson followed suit over the weekend, a trend that Mrs Clinton's campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe believes is testimony to the huge fundraising and organisational power of the web.
"When Hillary announced on Saturday, she was getting over 100 hits per minute on her website to support her candidacy. It has totally changed American politics. It's changed it for the better. It allows the small donor to be very active in the presidential process. It allows them to have a voice politically and financially," he said.
Each candidate's website is different in terms of depth and sophistication, with Democrat John Edwards offering policy discussions, blogs and web diaries while Republican front-runner John McCain boasts little more than a chance to donate money.
Access to donors is the most important opportunity the web offers to candidates but the internet is also an unparalleled way to recruit campaign volunteers, many of whom are political junkies who visit websites such as the liberal DailyKos or the conservative InstaPundit a number of times a day.
Mrs Clinton's web chat offered no surprises but it allowed the former first lady to show her more relaxed side, which is seldom on view during formal television interviews. She took no chances, however, even when asked to name her favourite film.
"Well, you know, I've had favourite movies at different stages in my life. When I was very much younger The Wizard of Oz was my favourite movie. I just loved imagining myself being there with Dorothy and being part of that great adventure that she had. Probably when I was in college and law school, Casablanca. I watched it I don't know how many times . . . And I suppose in the last years, Out of Africa. I loved Meryl Streep and Robert Redford," she said.
If the internet offers new opportunities to candidates, it also creates new dangers, as former Virginia senator George Allen discovered during last year's congressional elections. A video recording of Mr Allen using an apparently racist epithet reached an audience of millions on YouTube, sending his campaign into a nosedive and almost certainly costing him his seat.
Mr McAuliffe says that politicians have to adapt to the pressures created by sites like YouTube and to the fact that the internet will play an increasingly important part in American politics.
"As we continue to move forward, new technologies will come along and all it does is open the process up to millions of more people, which is great for democracy," he said.