While the Internet may not quite be the great equalizer when it comes to political campaigns pitting heavyweight candidates against underdogs, Politics 2.0 has certainly caused front-runners to sweat a few buckets.

Today’s Washington Post has an A1 story examining the Web’s promise and peril for Presidential candidates - particularly front-runners with less to gain and everything to lose when viral campaigns turn against them.

As online politics has expanded from simply another fundraising channel to a web of viral videos, Facebook campaign sites and influential political blogs, candidates have struggled to maintain a grasp on how their messages reach the voter. This marriage of necessity was the fodder for a lively discussion at last week’s ExecutiveBiz The New New Internet Conference during a panel titled: Politics on the Web, by the Web and for the Web (catch the video of the panel here). The panel was comprised of Joe Trippi, John Edwards for President, Senior Advisor; Cyrus Krohn, RNC, Director of eCampaign Division; John Della Volpe, Harvard Institute of Politics, Director of Polling; and Gary Arlen, Arlen Communications, Inc., President.

Politics 2.0 really started with the 2004 Presidential Campaign run by Howard Dean. More specifically it started with Joe Trippi, who served as National Campaign Manager for Dean and pioneered the use of online technology to organize what became the largest grassroots movement in presidential politics. Dean for America ended up raising more money than any Democratic presidential campaign in history, all with donations averaging less than $100 each.

While the Web can still produce surprises and offer an unexpected financing platform for darkhorse candidates, (Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul appears to be the micro version of Howard Dean in the current election cycle) the panelists discussed how politics on the web, as the Washington Post article suggests, has spun well beyond the control of the candidates and front-runners still fear taking risks online.

John Della Volpe pointed out that as opposed to 2004, when the Democratic candidates had to take more risks to bring down Bush, 2008 sees a GOP field that now must be more open to using the Web in order to chip away at the Clinton machine.

At the same time, Trippi pointed out that in some ways candidates are still more comfortable operating at the Web 1.0 level with moderated user groups, portals and forums. Not all have willingly shifted to the Web 2.0 level where the moderator function is removed and control is handed off directly to the voter.

While political candidates still might be tiptoeing from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, the Web has exacted a rapid and fundamental imprint on Presidential politics. Candidates realize they must handhold bloggers and online influencers the same way they do offline journalists, or risk having a negative blog post, video or audio clip send the campaign into crisis mode. And as more voters visit the Web first for news, the stakes will only increase for candidates trying to maximize their web strategy.

All of the panels at the upcoming Web 2.0 conference on November 1 look excellent, but there’s one I’m particularly interested in. “Politics on the Web, by the Web, and for the Web” at The New New Internet conference features four very talented individuals from the world of politics and technology. Together, this panel should offer a fascinating and balanced look into the way Web 2.0 technologies are shaping our political future.

Joe Trippi

Joe Trippi, one of the panel members, is the Senior Advisor for John Edwards’s presidential campaign. You may remember him as a Campaign Manager for Howard Dean—the man who was known for being the first to integrate the Web into his presidential campaign in earnest. Joe Trippi was the one making the magic happen.

Trippi has a long history of working on Democratic presidential campaigns—he’s worked in politics for 30 years. In recent years, he has focused on using the Web as a political tool, and he’s earned a solid reputation.

He’s currently guiding the Edwards campaign in implementing various Internet strategies to try to cut through the two-sided Clinton-Obama race. Trippi and Edwards know that using traditional means alone won’t do it, so they’re using social networking, blogging, Web videos, and other Web 2.0 techniques.

Cyrus Krohn

Then there’s the GOP. They dominate talk radio, and now they’re determined to master the Internet. They’ve chosen Cyrus Krohn as their man. More specifically, the Republican National Committee recently picked Krohn to be the Director of their eCampaign Division.

The Republicans are definitely playing catch-up when it comes to the Web, but Krohn has an excellent background to tackle the job. A 10-year Microsoft veteran, he was the publisher of their webzine, Slate.com. He’s done political advertising for Microsoft MSN.com, directed election strategy at Yahoo!, and even interned for Vice President Dan Quayle.

Krohn takes an interesting approach to using Web 2.0 as a political tool. While he feels that social networking and similar “hot” techniques are important, he’s more interested in the solid favorites like Yahoo! and Microsoft MSN. This may be very smart thinking, considering how many people still center their activities around mainstream sites like these.

John Della Volpe

Everyone uses Web 2.0 technologies these days, but the younger generation was the first to discover things like blogging and social networking. John Della Volpe is the third member of the panel, and he understands how young voters’ opinions are being shaped by these kinds of tools. He’s the Director of Polling at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics. Volpe leads public opinion survey groups regarding the Millennial Generation’s attitudes toward politics, public service, and the media. (The Millennial Generation constitutes young adults between 18 and 30.)

Volpe has more than a decade of experience with presidential campaigns and has analyzed dozens of high-profile races. He has seen how voter turnout has increased among young people, the kinds of political issues that motivate young adults today, and how their views on foreign policy differ from those of earlier generations—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. He understands how social media and technology are influencing the 2008 campaign, especially with respect to young voters.

Gary Arlen

Gary Arlen is the panel’s fourth member. He is President of Arlen Communications, a DC-area research and consulting firm that specializes in converging media, telecommunications, and information services. What Arlen brings to the panel is a rich background in new media and emerging technology, areas he’s been analyzing for more than 20 years.

Arlen has foreseen new trends, like the way video and data services would come to be controlled by the customer. He’s also a leader in interactive content and Internet e-commerce. His extensive understanding of media and telecommunications should inform the panel discussion on how Web 2.0 technologies have evolved to become so effective as political tools.

Four Top Leaders

This panel discussion should be lively. Any time you combine politics with four intelligent leaders, you get interesting results. Perhaps we’ll even hear a debate between Trippi and Krohn—Democrat versus Republican—about the relative merits of blogging versus MSN tools. Attend the Web 2.0 conference to find out.