The candidate most effective at reaching women online will have a serious edge in the primary election. Why? More women vote than men. More women are online than men. Given the importance of reaching women online, all of the presidential campaigns have weak online operations for targeting women. Women make the key difference to primary victories, and although each presidential campaign has staff focused on women, they are doing very little to effectively target women online.

The Web on the Candidates

The growing use of broadband Internet is helping Barack Obama raise more money from more people than ever before, writes the Washington Post's Jose Antonio Vargas. Not only did about a third of Obama's second-quarter earnings of $32.8 million come from online donations, but 90 percent of those donations were under $100, and half were $25 or less. Even MyDD's Jerome Armstrong, a Dean Internet advisor in 2003, calls it "the largest grass-roots campaign in history for this stage of a presidential race." Beyond the appeal of the candidate, part of the reason for the big numbers may come from increased broadband access. African American adults' connection rates have nearly tripled from 14 percent in 2005 to 40 percent this year, according to Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "Folks online are doing things they've never done before," Rainie says.

The New York Times reports that, in addition to raising money in the form of small donations, Obama's campaign "has also employed novel tactics — like counting sales of $5 speech tickets or $4.50 Obama key chains as individual contributions — to pump up his numbers and transform grass-roots enthusiasm into more useful forms of support." The combination of traditional fundraising and counting paraphernalia sales toward his numbers has combined to give Obama more money ($58.4 million) than any candidate in either party. Another plus: in addition to bringing in more money, merchandise sales add names to the donor rolls.

Feminist leader Gloria Feldt writes that the furor about Hillary Clinton and the gender card (see Pile On video) is a process of “desensitization” : we’re all trying to work out our collective discomfort with such a powerful woman. It’s new to all of us, so we have to talk about it, and often screw up. I agree with that. But it’s hurting the candidate. What so many pundits see as "surefootedness" is a calculated means not to alienate confused voters and a ravenous press.

Glenn Greenwald takes Chris Dodd's FISA victory seriously, unlike most of big media; Colin Delany is impressed with the grassroots effort behind Dodd; BlogHer asks why the candidates won't speak with them; a partnership between Rock the Vote and AT&T gets out the vote, text-style; a new site compares the candidates, and Obama and Clinton supporters engage in a Microsoft vs. Apple-style switcher's war.

In a further extension of BlogHer's mission to identify and promote women in the blogosphere, I wanted to let you know about our new widget- we're inviting women political bloggers to list themselves. Please spread the word and sign up here. There's even a great iPhone version so you can find bloggers while you're on the road, say, in Pennsylvania.

This election had many firsts, but before we move on entirely to the new administration, the special meaning evoked November 4 by rejuvenating American democracy should not be undervalued. Not only did voters come out in droves waiting hours at the polls, but they celebrated the act of voting in new ways online, and they're still showing pride in the process.