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Washington (CNN) – In the 2004 election, "new media" was defined by blogs. In 2008, it was defined by Facebook and Twitter. In 2012, those social media tools will move from your computer screen to your pocket, as mobile technology helps define the new terms of campaign engagement.

Political strategists are getting ready for the new era - testing new uses for mobile technology, and generating massive contact lists. Last week, Harry Reid's re-election campaign launched a text messaging program surveying constituents on their feelings about health care. Those results were then sent out for all to see on Reid's campaign Twitter account.

"Last campaign was almost, but this campaign will be, a tipping point for mobile," says Todd Ogasawara, who writes the blog Mobile Content Today.  "A lot of these tools are not only maturing, but the people using these tools are maturing."

A third of Nevada's voters registered after Reid's last re-election bid in 2004. Thirty-seven percent of those are under the age of 30, a demographic that began texting not long after they learned to talk.

They may not pick up a newspaper, but they never put down their cell phone.

"The campaign recognizes cell phones are a primary mode of communication and we need to go communicate with voters on their turf," Reid campaign manager Brandon Hall told CNN. The new technology, he says, is driving traditional political organizing. "Instead of having someone knock at someone's door, it allows you to do all the traditional political organizing online," he said.
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Meg Whitman has been endorsed by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in her bid to become California's next governor.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Rudy Giuliani will support former eBay CEO Meg Whitman's California gubernatorial bid, her campaign announced Wednesday.

Giuliani, a former Republican presidential candidate who is mulling his own run for governor in New York, called Whitman "simply the best person to lead our country's largest state."

"Meg's disciplined focus on creating jobs, cutting wasteful spending and improving education is the right course for California," Giuliani said in a statement. "I also believe that Meg Whitman can help reenergize the grassroots of the Republican Party."

The current California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is term-limited. Whitman will face State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former Rep. Tom Campbell in the 2010 Republican primary.

Meg Whitman will no longer be raising money for Bob McDonnell in Virginia.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman's appearance at a Virginia fundraiser this week for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell has been canceled.

McDonnell's campaign said the fundraiser, to be held at a private home in northern Virginia, was canceled last week because "scheduling reasons prevented it from happening." John Backus, a businessman who was scheduled to host the gathering and has known Whitman for years, said the fundraiser could not be postponed because his wife is giving birth, but he told the campaign to add his name to another area fundraiser later in the month. He said Whitman wouldn't be attending the re-scheduled event.

Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Whitman, said the fundraiser was canceled because "our campaign has a scheduling conflict."

The calendar re-shuffling might be good news for Whitman, who is now seeking the GOP gubernatorial nomination in California and faces a potentially difficult three-way primary. After all, national Democrats have been eager to draw attention to McDonnell's controversial master's thesis that called working women "detrimental" to families, and they have skewered the Republicans who have journeyed to Virginia since the document was uncovered.

Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Bobby Jindal and Newt Gingrich have all been labeled conservative extremists by the Democratic National Committee for campaigning with McDonnell. On Monday, the DNC released a Web video with a warning for potential McDonnell surrogates: "You campaign with Bob McDonnell," the video cautions, "you're playing with fire."

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Meg Whitman is facing off against Steve Poizner and Tom Campbell in the California Republican gubernatorial primary.

(CNN) – A former GOP official in California is dropping his endorsement of State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and will instead support his rival, eBay CEO Meg Whitman, in the state's Republican gubernatorial primary.

Bob Naylor, a former Minority Leader in the California State Assembly and a onetime chairman of the California Republican Party, said Tuesday that Whitman has a better chance of appealing to moderates and Democrats in the 2010 general election - if she can survive the Republican primary gauntlet.

"The party has to be able to attract more independents and minorities and women than we did in the last two election cycles," said Naylor, an attorney who served as state party chairman from 1987 to 1989. "I have to come to believe that she can attract more votes and independents and Democrats than Mr. Poizner. I think her story is more compelling than his."

Naylor told CNN he wrote Poizner a letter informing him of his decision three weeks ago, but never heard back.

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Meg Whitman, left, and Carly Fiorina lost in a straw poll conducted by rivals at the California GOP convention.

(CNN) – Two Republican statewide candidates in California are touting the results of a state GOP convention straw poll that showed conservative activists overwhelmingly rejecting the gubernatorial bid of former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and the likely Senate bid of former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.

The campaign of gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner boasted about his 64-point victory over Whitman in Sunday's straw poll on their Web site and on Twitter. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore's campaign touted their own dominating win over Fiorina - 91 percent to six percent - in a campaign e-mail celebrating their success at this weekend's Fall convention in Indian Wells.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee then jumped on the news of Fiorina's loss as a sign of tension within the California Republican ranks, and shopped the poll results to Washington reporters.

One problem: There was no official straw poll at the California Republican Party Convention.

"We did not conduct a straw poll at this convention whatsoever," California GOP chairman Ron Nehring said in an e-mail.

So who did? An aide to DeVore - a state Assemblyman who has actively courted the party's conservative wing as he prepares to battle Fiorina for the Republican Senate nomination - acknowledged that Sunday's poll was engineered by the DeVore campaign, even though it was described as a "CRP straw poll" in an e-mail to supporters.

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Can Meg Whitman move from a successful career in Silicon Valley to the world of rough-and-tumble politics?

FULLERTON, California (CNN) - Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger have both done it. So did astronaut John Glenn and basketball great Bill Bradley. Even Jesse Ventura was able to capitalize on a wrestling career as a way to leap into the political ring.

But what about a tech geek?

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman wants to move into politics with a run for the job of governor of California in 2010. In doing so, she is, in effect, trying to prove that high-tech personas have become mainstream and trusted enough to take up political office. Although movie stars and astronauts have paved routes from fame to politics, tech moguls largely have not broken into major elected offices.

To make things all the more dramatic, one of Whitman's main opponents, Steve Poizner, is also a Silicon Valley mogul.

Whitman is not the first successful person from the tech world to attempt a leap into politics, but she is perhaps the most well-known, said Mark Z. Barabak, a political writer at the Los Angeles Times. Less famous tech personalities have run for lower offices in California and have had some success, he said.

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Whitman said she was 'wrong' for not voting for several decades.

LOS ANGELES (CNN) - Meg Whitman says she was wrong.

The Republican candidate for governor of California Thursday night issued a statement on her failure to vote in multiple elections in California. Whitman, the former eBay CEO and former adviser and surrogate for John McCain's presidential campaign, calls her own record "inexcusable" and "simply wrong."

Whitman, who officially announced her bid for governor at the beginning of the week, issued her statement after GOP gubernatorial challenger Steve Poizner criticized her for her lack of votes, and after an investigation by the Sacramento Bee newspaper that pointed to her failure to vote over several decades in five states where Whitman has lived since 1979.

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On the same day she officially announced her candidacy for California governor, Meg Whitman launched the first statewide ad of the 2010 campaign.

(CNN) - On the same day she officially announced her candidacy for California governor, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman launched the first statewide ad of the 2010 campaign - a 60-second radio spot highlighting the Republican's corporate credentials and experience creating jobs.

"California needs new leadership," the ad's narrator says. "We need someone with a proven ability at creating jobs. Who understands what growing businesses need. Who still believes government should be small, efficient and affordable. We need Meg Whitman."

The ad points to Whitman's stints with companies like Hasbro, Disney and Procter & Gamble, but focuses on her leadership at eBay, a core element of her candidacy. Listeners are told that she turned the Internet stat-up into a Fortune 500 company and created hundreds of jobs in California.

With heaps of money and backing from national Republicans like Mitt Romney and John McCain, Whitman is thought by many to be the frontrunner for the GOP nomination. Her main opponent in the Republican primary is California insurance commissioner Steve Poizner. If Whitman captures the GOP nomination, she may face California Attorney General Jerry Brown or San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in the general election.

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman will officially declare her candidacy for governor of California on Tuesday at an event in Fullerton, California.

LOS ANGELES (CNN) – Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman will officially declare her candidacy for governor of California on Tuesday at an event in Fullerton, California.

Whitman, the 53-year-old former CEO of eBay, will become a leading GOP candidate to succeed current Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010, when he is forced to retire due to term limits. Ms. Whitman, who stepped down as CEO of eBay in March of 2008, has never held elected public office.

California has been beset by a fiscal crisis and massive budget deficits for nearly a year. Whitman advocates cutting the state's spending and reducing the state's workforce.

Meg Whitman has won the endorsement of Sen. John McCain.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, will endorse former eBay executive Meg Whitman Friday for governor of California, a Whitman spokesman said.

Although Whitman hasn't officially announced her candidacy, McCain will endorse the Republican at a town hall meeting in Orange County and then join her in Fresno for a news conference. Whitman's spokesman Mitch Zak said that McCain's support "continues the campaign's momentum."

"John McCain is an American hero," Zak said of the 2008 Republican presidential nominee. "We're honored and humbled to have his endorsement. We're looking forward to working with him to improve California."

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Meg Whitman said Thursday that California's new budget is not the solution to the state's fiscal challenges.

(CNN) – Meg Whitman, a Republican candidate for governor in California, is not a fan of the new budget just passed by the state’s legislature.

The budget “is not the solution,” Whitman said in a statement Thursday. “Instead of respecting taxpayers and championing job creation, Sacramento is increasing taxes on the middle class. The proposed budget will kill jobs, hurt families and make future deficits even worse."

Whitman, the former President and CEO of eBay, also opposed the nearly $800 billion stimulus bill recently passed by Congress and signed into law by the President.

If successful in her gubernatorial bid, Whitman will succeed fellow Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who praised the California legislature’s passage of the state’s budget.

Whitman wants to be California's next governor.

(CNN) - Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, announced Monday she's interested in running for governor of California, setting up what's likely to be among the most hotly contested gubernatorial races in 2010.

Whitman, a Republican, announced on her Web site she is establishing an exploratory committee to seek the state's top post - the traditional first step before a full campaign is launched.

In the statement announcing the committee, Whitman made clear she will stress her economic credentials and business acumen to help the state weather through its waning economy.

"California faces challenges unlike any other time in its history – a weak and faltering economy, massive job losses, and an exploding state budget deficit," she said in the statement. "California is better than this, and I refuse to stand by and watch it fail."

Though she's never held elective office, Whitman is no stranger to politics. She served as a high-profile surrogate for John McCain's presidential bid, and was considered to a potential choice for the Arizona senator's running mate.

Forbes Magazine valued Whitman's worth at $1.4 billion in 2007.

Two other Republicans have already formally expressed interest in running for the seat - Former Rep. Tom Campbell and current California insurance commissioner Steve Poizner, another former Silicon Valley CEO.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) –  Mitt Romney. Meg Whitman.

Sounds like a flashback to the 2008 presidential campaign. But I'm not living in the past. I'm talking about the present day.

Both Romney and Whitman are scheduled to speak today at a hearing focusing on economic recovery solutions that's being held by House Republicans. The hearing was organized by House Republican Party Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential candidate, will offer Congressional Republicans his prescriptions to jumpstart the economy, as will Whitman, the former eBay CEO who served as a senior economic adviser and surrogate for Romney during the Republican primaries. She served in the same capacity for McCain during the general election.

Both could have future political aspirations. There's the possibility Romney may make another run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 and Whitman is considering a run for California Governor in 2010.