POLITICAL parties in the upcoming general election might want to use tech-savviness as one criterion for choosing their candidates.

And why not? In the age of the Internet, tech-savvy candidates could well endear themselves to equally tech-savvy young voters, and hopefully win over their hearts and votes.

These are people who check e-mail and the likes of Facebook every day to keep in touch. They blog and look forward to daily messages from long distance friends. And they certainly have a lot of thoughts to share, and questions they want answered.

Considering that the Net and its spinoffs are effective media to reach out to these young voters, the tech-savvy factor could well be decisive.

United States presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama is one good example of such a candidate who has cleverly exploited the power of the Internet to pursue his political ambitions.

As far as utilising the Internet in his campaign goes, Obama has been early and aggressive online, making use of YouTube, MySpace, and Google AdWords, to deliver his message and counter negative attacks from political opponents.

He has also unveiled his technological plan for the nation, which included the appointment of a chief technical officer to help make the government more transparent online.

And according to reports, these qualities have helped Obama to win the audience over, especially the young ones, to put him as the Democrat leading contender for next year’s Presidential election.

Indeed, the Internet is proving to be a crucial tool that political parties can do without these days.

It’s also a tool to get the young to become more passionate and involved in politics and affairs of the state.