Jose Antonio Vargas

The team that ran the most technologically advanced presidential campaign in modern history is finding it difficult to adapt that model to government. WhiteHouse.gov, envisioned as the primary vehicle for President Obama to communicate with the online masses, has been overwhelmed by challenges that staffers did not foresee and technological problems they have yet to solve.

MoveOn, the enfant terrible of online politicking, is growing up, turning 10 years old last month. And it has become far more than a purveyor of vituperative e-mail blasts. During the 2006 midterm elections, for instance, the online organization -- with a full-time staff of 23, most of whom work from home -- spent $28 million advocating for Democratic candidates through its political action committee, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

With less than three months to go before the election, Triple O -- Obama's online operation -- is the envy of strategists in both parties, redefining the role that an online team can play within a campaign.

A look at Cyrus Krohn, the Republican National Committee's eCampaign director. Or, in the words of his boss, RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, "He's helping bring our party to the 21st century."

Netroots Nation ended Sunday at the Austin Convention Center. With the Democrats taking back Congress in 2006 and the prospect of an Obama victory come November, many in the influential Netroots are left in a precarious, ambiguous position.