The 2004 presidential campaign was thought to revolutionize modern political campaigns in many ways.

Analysts point time and again to Democratic hopeful and 21st Century election pioneer Howard Dean, whose embarrassment (remember the "I have a Scream" speech?) later vaulted him into a position as a master strategist in the Democrats' 2006 Congressional takeover.

The attention paid to Internet-based communications can already be seen as the 2008 presidential campaign begins to take shape. Media reports focus on whether Obama or Giuliani has more friends on MySpace.com (Obama by a landslide!).

But elections are not decided on who has more virtual friends or even who has better YouTube video clips. Elections are won the old-fashioned way: through personal relationships.

A Washington Post-Stanford University poll found that most voters already have their mind made up long before going to the polls. So how much will record-breaking fundraising and spending affect voters' choices in the '08 elections? The data suggests these digital tools will be a big waste.

But, just like any successful brand, politicians need evangelists (pun intended) - who have already decided on the candidate they're voting for - to bring those carefully crafted Internet-based messages into peoples' homes and into their conversations.

That's one area where Republicans and Democrats agree.

Mike Krempasky, co-founder of the conservative blog RedState.org, has a simple message. "Get off the computer," he says. "Any long-term political movement demands personal relationships."

Similarly, Joe Trippi, Dean's online campaign manager, has even said the goal of Internet-based communications is to move offline.

But that lesson doesn't seem to be getting through to the candidates. In this case, it's the means of the online communications, rather than the ends of voter-politician relationships that matters.

If nothing else, we're still at least two presidential campaigns away from deciding the next president on MySpace.