Obama’s modern ways overlooked

The curse of writing a column for Nov. 5 when Nov. 4 isn’t over means I have no election day results. In their place, I offer two final election thoughts:

• Not nearly enough attention was given this season to the Barack Obama campaign and its use of new communications tools to mobilize voters and donors.

According to the campaign, 3.2 individuals gave money to Obama this year, ranging from pocket change to the maximum allowed $2,300.

I know, he pulled out on his promise to accept public financing. But looking at how he broke fund-raising records with small donors, one can conclude his campaign was publicly financed — and without tax dollars.

I signed up for the Obama text message service to find out who he selected as a running mate, and would have certainly taken the option had McCain given me one. Over the next few months, I got a stream of messages telling me when and where to register, how I could donate and how I could volunteer my time to support Obama —