Paul Begala Political Analyst and CNN Commentator

All the ills of the free press can be cured by an even freer press. New media means that everyone with a laptop, an opinion and a Google search engine can opine or report or fact-check. Those of us who are on the air at CNN and other networks only benefit when people hold us to high standards of accuracy. "Our critics," President Clinton used to tell me, "are our friends. They point out our flaws and show us where we can do better." It's nice to have so many friends.

Bill Bennett Popular Conservative Voice and Radio Host, "Bill Bennett's Morning in America"

Hillary is pretty close to being coronated for the Democrats; Obama has to make it big in Iowa or it's over. Rudy is still receiving the most support for the Republicans—watch for big time attacks on Rudy from other Republicans, look for a possible second surge by Fred Thompson (his first appearances were not impressive, lately he has been coming on strong—particularly in his criticism of Giuliani and his recent comments on immigration). But watch for Rudy to fight back, he has a lot to say about values, even if some of his positions are unorthodox.

The new media is critical to all of this—because it is amplifying and speeding up all of this. Because of blogs and 24/7 cycles, you might have three responses and counter-responses a day. The result: more information, more exchange, and more democracy. Probably, also, you get a more exhausted candidate.

Bill Bradley Esteemed American Leader

It's potential for deepening the dialogue between citizen and candidate has yet to be realized. It makes campaigns respond faster, but not necessarily with more substance.

Andrew Card White House Chief of Staff (2001-2006)

Blogs and web-portals like YouTube and MySpace already are changing the punditry and outreach opportunities, obligations and challenges of political campaigns. It will be especially exciting to see how these e-venues will fill the void between the primary season and the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, when presidential candidates are likely to be out of money for advertising through the mainstream media. Watch out for stealthy camera cell phones!

Tucker Carlson Host, MSNBC's Tucker

It used to be that a candidate could tell audiences in New Hampshire one thing and audiences in Iowa another. This season, thanks to blogs, the crowd waiting in Des Moines will know what the candidate has said before his plane leaves the tarmac in Manchester. Someone’s always watching, and everything’s on the record. This is a mixed blessing. The candidates are more honest. But they’re more fearful of being caught in inconsistencies, and are therefore less likely to change their minds, even when they ought to.

Ari Fleischer White House Press Secretary (2001-2003)

There is no 24-hour news cycle any more. As soon as anything hot or controversial is posted on the web, the cycle begins anew for the media-driven, get-it-out-first, always respond presidential campaigns. Politico.com and other websites have changed the game, and the network news shows are scrambling to catch up.

Newt Gingrich Conservative Political Visionary and Thought-Leader

The new media brings dramatically greater speed, much more intense expert knowledge and a relentless focus on mistakes and contradictions. The next phase will be the Second Life type of interactive, alternative spaces.

Mort Kondrake Executive Editor, Roll Call and Fox News Commentator

The blogs, radio talk and the 24-hour news channels are the noise machine of political polarization. America's big problems—from fighting terrorism to reforming health care to controlling retirement costs—can only be addressed through a series of bipartisan 'grand bargains.' But from the left and right, most new media outlets denounce consensus as ‘sellout.’ It's a big challenge for the next president.

William Kristol Editor, The Weekly Standard and Panelist, FOX News Sunday

So far, we’ve had a pretty stable and traditional nominating season. Clinton and Giuliani have been in the lead all year in their respective parties, and the relative place of the other contenders hasn’t changed that much. But I suspect we’re now in for a wild ride, with Clinton under assault and a five-way race on the GOP side. And the wildness of the ride will be accentuated by 24/7 media and the blogosphere, interacting with a compressed primary schedule. We’ve never been through what we’re about to go through for the next few months—and understanding the interplay of new media and politics will be key for campaign strategists and analysts alike.

Gary Langer Director of Polling, ABC News

New media outlets add yet more spice to the campaign, fresh perspectives and most substantively an opportunity to drill down more deeply than ever. (Best of course is my blog, The Numbers, at http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenumbers.) Less helpful is the medium’s echo-chamber aspect, where a snip of tape (remember The Scream) may carry more clout that a boatload of thoughtful policy proposals. In the end, with new media as with old, the same basic rules apply: Context counts. And consider the source.

Mike McCurry Partner, Public Strategies Group and Former White House Press Secretary

There are several new realities for presidential campaigns in the age of new media. Anything and everything may be live on YouTube moments after it passes the candidate’s lips. You can organize a groundswell of contributions and support with a few clicks of the keyboard and a lot less shoe leather. And 30-second ads become far less powerful than information a voter hears, face-to-face, from a source he or she trusts. That means that the crazy turbulence of new media politics is simultaneously small-"d" democratic, and much more interactive. Political communication is moving from the mass distribution model to highly-targeted and very sophisticated narrow-cast model. This really will be the first campaign of the 21st Century, but the changes happening in politics will last long beyond this election.

Norah O'Donnell Chief Washington Correspondent, MSNBC

Want to find out how the new media has changed the 2008 election? Check out Facebook.com, where more than 300,000 people have joined a feature on Senator Barack Obama! This year, every major presidential candidate launched their campaigns on the web. And YouTube? It didn’t even exist in 2004, but now the video-sharing site is frequently used by the campaigns to post commercials-for free! All the campaigns monitor and even pander to the blogs. But I was most interested to learn that in Iowa, site of the first national caucuses, new media is not as powerful. The reason: most of the Democratic caucus-goers are older and still more tuned into TV commercials than candidates’ websites.

Judy Woodruff Senior Correspondent & Editor of 2008 Political Coverage, PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

Campaigns no longer think in terms of news cycles; instant responses or reactions must be considered every day. Candidates can no longer assume that because a development is not in the mainstream media, he or she can afford to ignore it. This makes for more diverse inputs—from blogs like Fire Dog Lake and AmSpec—as well as from the New York Times. It also makes for a more ferocious pace, and sometimes, for less thoughtful decision making.