msm, mccain sweat the small stuff. obama thinks big.

The Obama campaign has long been on board those digital locomotives. Its ability to tell its story under the radar of the mainstream press in part accounts for why the Obama surge has been so often underestimated. Even now we’re uncertain of its size. The extraordinary TV viewership for Obama on Thursday night, larger than the Olympics opening ceremony, this year’s Oscars or any “American Idol” finale, may only be a count of the horses. The Obama campaign’s full reach online — for viewers as well as fund-raising and organizational networking — remains unknown.

John McCain has certainly learned some of the internet's hollow campaign tricks (buying adsense keywords, putting sensational clips on youtube), but his digital media strategy is as bankrupt as the rest of his campaign. Obama's campaign is much more disciplined and has a greater understanding of how the subtleties of all media work together. He continues to be underestimated, and he continues to knock it out of the park. Meanwhile, the "maverick" continues to meet everyone's exact expectations. McCain is the status quo, even in campaigning. And Obama is anything but.

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Below, Shelly Palmer talks a bit about Obama's perfectly produced convention speech. It's just the latest example of the campaign wildly exceeding the MSM's expectations.