Ever since the last edition of Campaigns on the Cutting Edge, the speed of politics has increased at an unprecedented rate. It's hard to believe that the hand-held smartphone has more power in it than a personal computer did just twenty years ago. In fact, the Internet is now a middle-age technology. The frontier described as new in the last edition is no longer new but it is an ever-expanding frontier as the virtual media used to reach voters make campaigning more mobile. No longer is video communication or online communication in a fixed place; rather, it is portable. And given the short attention span so many people have online, communicating messages more simply and effectively is a necessity. But still, the effectiveness and appeal of online media can be oversold. The millions of paid staff and volunteers who knocked on doors to get out the vote for the Obama campaign in 2008 and the tens of thousands on behalf of the Tea Party in 2010 demonstrate the remarkable resilience of personal campaigning. Personal outreach is still the most effective communications device for any campaign. In the end, people crave the human contact and interaction that politics has always been about.

The personal campaign politics that dominate the first presidential precinct caucus (Iowa) and presidential primary (New Hampshire) remain critical for Republicans—just ask former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney who ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2008 and is doing so again in 2012. However, with the Internet and responsive media, major campaigns for national political office are virtually or actually alive 24 hours per day. The pressure on candidates, consultants, campaign organizations, political parties, interest groups, and the press is unceasing. The election cycle for presidential races is now two years and for major senate races, in many cases, 36 months. Books and articles have been written on the permanent campaign. Today, we have the ever-present campaign—that is both exciting and challenging to both the campaign consultant and the arm-chair political analyst.

The book you are about to read captures the transformation that is taking place in campaigns today and where they are headed in the future. The book's scope goes beyond the 2012 election and looks toward the next decade of campaign politics. [Page xii]The authors are asked to make informed speculations on the next wave of political change so that the book remains as relevant in 2014 or 2016 as it is today. These authors are not only skilled political scientists, but also participants—including Tad Devine (media consultant and chief strategist for Al Gore), Michael Turk (Online director for Bush-Cheney 2004), Tari Renner (congressional candidate 2004) and Dick Simpson (congressional candidate 1992 and 1994). Most others have lived and worked in the cauldron of Washington, D.C., politics and policy or in states with national political significance. The book is written to give students, faculty, and political observers a keen sense of the reality of national political campaigns from an insider's perspective. In that light, the book is written without a lot of jargon.

We cannot account for all changes that may take place over the next five or ten years, but we look through the lens of contemporary politics to see what cutting-edge changes are on the horizon. The import of what those changes may mean is expressed eloquently in the book's conclusion on the implications for the democratic process.

I would like to thank my colleagues who have written chapters for this manuscript; and a special welcome to our new authors, Atiya Kai Stokes-Brown, Jeffrey Crouch, Susan MacManus, and Michael Turk. The contributors to this volume have written and edited scores of scholarly books. Thus, it was a great honor to work with such a group of thoughtful and active scholars.

I would like to thank reviewers of the first edition for their excellent suggestions for the second edition revisions: Ralph J. Begleiter, University of Delaware; Blaine Garvin, Gonzaga University; Ryan Lee Teten, University of Louisiana; Brian Vargus, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; and David L. Welch, Indiana University. I'd also like to thank the editors and staff at CQ for their help and support. I would like to thank Charisse Kiino for another wonderful job providing overall direction for the project and shepherding the manuscript. She spent a lot of time with me on the project and I appreciate it. Brenda Carter deserves many thanks for giving the go-ahead to the second edition. Nancy Loh, who serves as Charisse's right hand, was very helpful in providing help with many logistic aspects of the project. Elizabeth Kline and Brittany Bauhaus did a superior job managing the production process, and Melissa Masson did superb work copyediting the manuscript in the writers' voices.

And to repeat myself from the first edition, I would like to thank my good friend Max Cleland, who is one of the most kind-hearted, thoughtful, and inspirational people you will ever meet. A special thank you to my students, especially the wonderful ones, from whom I have learned from—just because someone is twenty, does not mean they cannot teach you. Finally, I want to thank my wonderful parents, siblings, nephews and nieces for putting up with me for the last half century. What a wonderful family I have and what an honor it is to be one of them. Now, I want to welcome the reader into the contemporary and future world of campaigns—it's exciting and provocative.