The Daily Kos, a grassroots Democratic Web site, and its Kossacks (as the members happily call themselves), has come to symbolise the new power of political blogs, evidenced by the influential US politicians, including former president Jimmy Carter and Senator Harry Reid, who drop by to connect with its burgeoning list of activists and potential campaign volunteers.

The Internet has fundamentally changed the way political messages are disseminated, Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas told MSNBC.

"Technology absolutely has an impact [on politics]; it has allowed the Obama campaign to speak directly to its supporters without the need to go through media filters," Moulitsas said.

"When John McCain selected Sarah Palin as a running mate, the Daily Kos community ran into action, and [disclosures about] her membership in the Alaskan Independence Party stemmed from this open source grassroots reporting that occurs on the Daily Kos and other sites like it."

As the site's burgeoning popularity thrust Moulitsas into the US political spotlight, including multiple appearances on major television networks, Daily Kos chief technical officer Jeremy Bingham had to deal with soaring traffic loads and fluctuating peaks. The Daily Kos grew from a humble blogging site in 2002 running on a single shared server to a formidable hub for liberal activism with more than 180,000 registered users.