The declining impact of TV advertising is having a positive impact on politics. A billion dollar war chest will no longer guarantee you an elected office. Now you need support from social groups and communities that are hard to influence centrally.

Collaborative filtering sites, like digg.com, del.icio.us, and even Google, are the political battle grounds of the future. A political candidate will have to gain approval of communities of decentralized, diverse, and independent opinion.

Community reputation in these aggregate groups is difficult to buy with money. It takes an increasing amount of money for a meritless proposition to achieve top rank in Google listings. A politician will win or lose by whether his ideas spread, by whether individuals are recommending the idea. A politician will win if his ideas are new enough, potent enough to spread like viruses. As a leading viral marketing expert explains,

An example of such a disruptive flash political efficiency is The Pirate Party (Swedish: Piratpartiet). The party has gained wide support without institutional or financial backing, with the simple remit of re-balancing the power of copyright and patent laws in favor of the community, while still maintaing appropriate incentives for companies and authors to invest in intellectual projects.

TV advertising is being replaced by viral marketing; the ability to formulate and package the idea and addressing the right communities.