Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promises to appoint the nation's first chief technology officer if elected. Obama's campaign showcased its techno-brawn by sending text messages announcing his running mate. Nielsen Mobile said it was the largest U.S. mobile marketing event. Obviously, knowing how to text-message or blog isn't going to make or break an election. But technology is essential to culture.

Bridget Carey writes:
Barack Obama made mobile history by sending a text message to 2.9 million people, announcing that he had picked as his running mate Senator Joe Biden, who isn't beloved by the geek elite. Biden scored 37.5 percent on the voter guide for CNET, a technology news site. Senator John McCain, meanwhile, has told the media that he doesn't send e-mails and is still getting accustomed to using the Internet. But the same doesn't go for his running mate, the BlackBerry-wielding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who has bloggers buzzing about her tech-centric lifestyle. She is also three years younger than Obama. Does the next president need to be wired to gain the vote of the American people? It's an issue that has been raised frequently in technology communities and exploited by campaigns to gain an advantage. READ MORE