A local elected official with zero state-wide name ID called me last week to ask, “What do you think about me running for the United States Senate?” My answer, as you may suspect, came easily. “Absolutely!” In a race in which we have already seen blockbuster names withdraw from consideration, it is anybody’s race for the taking - even the little-known County Commissioners and State Legislators who are currently trying to convince themselves they are not completely insane for considering a shot at Florida’s most coveted prize.

My answer surprised my friend, who was expecting nothing short of me calling him a fool. After all, won’t the next United States Senator from Florida need to spend $50 million + on his campaign and have a vast state-wide grassroots organization? Again I say, absolutely. But if Barack Obama’s swearing in as the 44th President of the United States just weeks ago isn’t reason enough for anyone to consider getting into any race today, I don’t know what is. I say this with all due respect to our Commander in Chief, but let’s face the facts. A little more than 4 years ago, President Obama was serving as a State Senator from Illinois (albeit a powerful one due to the monstrous machine driving his political ambition). We know the rest of the story.

Some would argue that Obama’s rise to the highest office in the land was the result of a miraculous aligning of the political stars, and I would agree. But let’s not overlook the component of the Obama campaign that should serve as an encouragement and a challenge to anyone looking to get elected to any seat here in Florida and across the country: but for his masterful use of the internet and new technology, Obama would have never beaten his opponents.  And while Obama for America was an extraordinary example of how to harness the internet to win elections, it is not far-fetched to think that another candidate can similarly achieve what the Obama campaign did on the web to win the seat of their choice - even the contentious United States Senate seat in Florida. Internet and technology have expanded the field of potential contenders for any elected office. With a sound understanding of how to leverage these amazing tools for political gain, political nobodies have a shot at any office in the land, even the presidency.

Spaghetti dinners trump stuffy country club lunches

Over the next two years, it will undoubtedly be tougher than ever to raise the necessary cash campaigns need for any race here in Florida. The economic climate is the worst it has been in decades and potential campaign donors are hurting just like everyone else. So what is the solution? Sure candidates will, and should, rely on their bundlers for seed money to get their campaigns off the ground; but in 2010, we will see that money coming in slower than before. So where to next? Candidates who can successfully raise $5-$25 donations in this cycle via new technology will be the most successful candidates on Election Day 2010.

Take a lesson from the thousands of Floridians who contributed to Obama for America. I choose the word “contributed” carefully, because those thousands of monetary donors meant much more to the Obama campaign than the $15,000,000 + they gave in cash. They were locked-up votes, volunteers to walk door-to-door, Obama’s biggest advocates amongst their family and friends, and on top of all that, donors who would most likely give again. What many candidates still do not fully understand is that small donors bring much more value to the table than money. They bring political brand loyalty that is priceless to a campaign. Gone are the days in which candidates can compete with money from three big country club fundraisers a month. Like it or not, we are in the age of spaghetti dinner fundraisers where political longevity comes with small donors who are won on the web.

Grassroots must be married with webroots

Whoever decides to throw his or her hat into the ring for the U.S. Senate must also harness new technology to marry their grassroots and webroots campaign. It is no longer enough to have a website, a campaign email address and a Facebook profile (congrats to the countless candidates who eventually threw up a Facebook profile in the final weeks of the 2008 cycle). Campaigns, especially state-wide campaigns, must be able to navigate through the overwhelming amount of social interaction on the web to identify their supporters and organize them into a powerful grassroots network.

But even with all the right technological bells and whistles, it still always starts with the candidate. If campaigns are to be successful in harnessing new technology and social networking, the candidate must at least have a working understanding of the new media campaign tools. It will be difficult, if not impossible, to engage voters online by referring to “the Twitter” or “the Facebook.” A good candidate in today’s campaigns is someone who not only has the appropriate experience, message and following, but also gets the importance of the internet and has a working knowledge of technology.

A new kind of campaign

2010 has already thrust Florida into the national spotlight. With an open U.S. Senate seat, 4 cabinet positions, 9 open State Senate seats, 24 open House seats and a congressional line-up that never fails to make headlines, this cycle is guaranteed to be full of more surprises. In this age of tech-driven campaigns, the campaigns that are most successful on the web will be victorious on November 2, 2010. Sure the political establishment will be able to run a traditional campaign and maybe squeak out a victory; but if candidates from both the political establishment and the politically obscure are serious about winning in 2010, they will learn how to win a new kind of campaign - a campaign that is tech-savvy and ready to compete in the growing online space.

A good candidate is still essential to a successful campaign. Simply harnessing new technology successfully can not elect bad candidates, but these tools can certainly level the playing field for the right candidate in the right race.

The truth is that candidates know this. They watched Barack Obama and other notable contenders rise from seemingly nowhere to stun the political establishment in 2008. Every candidate wants that kind of campaign, but very few know how to make it happen.

Technology can be the great equalizer in politics. With the right message, a technologically savvy campaign can elect nobodies to whichever office they choose. Whether you are a local elected official or you are Governor Crist, technology must be the driving force of your campaign in 2010. It’s not a matter of if there will be an Obama-type campaign in Florida in 2010, but who will be the candidate.