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Tech-savvy young people form the second-largest voting bloc, and more than twice as many of them reportedly turned out to vote in this year's primaries, compared with those held in 2004.
But while politicians have recognised the importance of youth and technology from the beginning of the campaign - with many of the candidates even using blogs to attract support - it may ultimately take an intelligent melding of new and old methods to finally win the election in November.
'After all, it is a lot easier to click the delete button than it is to decline an invitation to stop by your neighbour's house to meet and greet a candidate, which has been common in the grassroots political campaigning in the United States,' said Ambassador Patricia Herbold.
Speaking to a packed room at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Mrs Herbold pointed out that the challenge ahead of grassroots politics in the US will be figuring out how to use the Internet to entice multi-tasking potential voters to linger on the message long enough to be persuaded.
According to data from Rock The Vote, a non-partisan new technology organisation, more than 6.5 million voters under 30 showed up to vote in caucuses and primaries this season - a 109 per cent increase over the previous election.
Not only have young people played a crucial role in the primaries, they also have the potential to dramatically shape this year's presidential race and its outcome.
Their views in turn are being shaped by the many opinions being stated by analysts in the US and around the world.
'In this Internet age, their opinions are repeated ad nauseam, on blogs, politically focused websites, where they are dissected, championed, challenged, definitely shaping the views of the voting electorate,' said Mrs Herbold.
'The last two election cycles - 2004 presidential elections and 2006 Senate elections - saw prominent advancement in the uses of Internet technology by campaigns. And in the past two years, the Internet has become even more central to political campaigns.'
More than 215 million Americans use the Internet, and campaigns are eager to capture the potential voters' attention online, she pointed out.
From holding presidential debates on YouTube to posting candidates' profiles on social networking sites such as Facebook, campaigns are doing everything they can to reach younger voters.
Senator John McCain's daughter's blog - mccainblogette.com - invites the youth to see the campaign through her eyes.
However, while many of the effects of Internet technology on the electoral process are positive, candidates have to guard against negative impacts, said Mrs Herbold.
One is the speed with which inaccurate information can spread through blogs, e-mail messages and news aggregators such as digg.com
Recognising this trend, Senator Barack Obama has just created a website - fightthesmear.com - where supporters can report and denounce misinformation.
The other is unplanned off-the-cuff moments that can dramatically alter a candidate's chances.
In the 2006 Senate election, Republican Senator George Allen lost a re-election bid after his alleged slur of an opposition campaign worker of Indian descent - an off-the-cuff moment - was caught on video and circulated on the Internet.
Mr Allen's popularity dipped, and the opposing candidate won the election.
'Given that control of the Senate that year hinged on just one senator, it is not a stretch to say that a viral video changed the course of US politics,' said Mrs Herbold.
