Follow the money is a good rule in policing, politics and journalism. So let's see where the ad money is going this election.

To begin with, check out this table from Benchmark media analyst Edward Atorino. The take away here is that broadcasting is still the most powerful way politicians reach voters. It's a proven mass media. That gives station owners clout in Washington and helps explain why politicians are so careful in the care and feeding of local TV journalists.

If you doubt that, just count the number of times John McCain or Barack Obama use your local anchor's name the next time they pop up in an interview in your home town.

But, as with so much in the media, the power is shifting. We can see that in how much money Barack Obama and John McCain are raising on line. We can see it in the YouTube speeches and segments the campaigns are posting online. We can see it in the direct communication with voters the Internet gives the campaigns through blogs and emails.

With the Internet, the candidate becomes the media. Just a fraction of campaign ad spending is now directed online. For comparison, Obama and McCain together ran 25 million banner ads in March according to comScore. Netflix runs five billion a month.

The political consultants expect Internet advertising will grow quickly now that candidates have seen how powerful a fund raising tool it can be. I think the real message here is that candidates have cut out the middle man and are going direct to voters. It's a shift in power that we are only beginning to appreciate.