It would be nothing new to write about how new media has changed politics, indeed the first bloggers were techies who were also political junkies. But something really cool happened today that should frighten network executives in deep dark places they don’t like to talk about at cocktail parties, Mitt Romney delivered a major speech about religion today and streamed it live over ustream.tv to be syndicated through bloggers instead of exclusively through the networks.

While putting up YouTube videos is now standard practice, the fact remains that streaming live through Ustream is a first and it also erases the preferential treatment that broadcast television has enjoyed since the early 1960′s. Given the declining audience that network news continues to experience, the increasing role of the internet in politics is beyond dispute and will shape current and future elections for years to come.

It’s not simply about these things being hosted on the web but the dependence upon syndication as a means to audience that I find fascinating.