I spent most of last night watching the Democratic election returns roll in, with the TV tuned to MSNBC but the sound turned down low, and my laptop in my hands, watching for live reaction and commentary on the event as it unfolded. Twitter, which has now become the web's virtual water-cooler, was my main guide, but while it was fun, I want more. The world live web is arguably already here, perhaps what we need to do is stitch it together a bit better for political events.

Color of Change pushes the popular vote as the Democratic decider; a video of John McCain being asked about a calling his wife a nasty name; Sidney Blumenthal's been sending around Obama rumor emails -- will he blame the "vast right-wing conspiracy"?; The GroundReport and the future of news; bloggers see the momentum shifting Clinton's way; robo-call voice Lamont Williams Twitters; and the Clinton campaign asks supporters to make t-shirts but still doesn't get online community.

Ronald Brownstein says we're in the midst of the first truly 21st century campaign; Eventful goes local; MoveOn petitions against ABC; Ethan Zuckerman and the Berkman crew watch their favorite YouTube videos; the Village Voice links to its (least) favorite conservative bloggers; a poll of online Pennsylvanians shows a bias for Barack; teddy bear versions of the candidates; and George Bush and Gordon Brown trade Twitter secrets.

Giving credit to Obama for the uptick in youth voting, and dissing Rock the Vote; the Internet is making it easier than ever to find information about the candidates; Paul Begala revives the art of the faux-Blackberry email; an Avaaz.org co-founder runs for Congress; Stephen Colbert encourages Hillary and Obama supporters to donate to PA schools; Frank Rich hammers Clinton; 10 Downing Street is Twittering, but Congress forgot about their accounts; and two NC gubernatorial candidates engage in an online debate.

Data from Compete shows that while Obama's site gets more hits, Clinton's gets more attention; a mayoral candidate in London submits to possibly the first political interview on Twitter; look out for the Wall Tweet Journal's launch in May; California asks citizens to propose solutions to state problems. Are the candidates listening?; Al Gore launches a new campaign -- not for president, but against global warming.

A new song about McCain makes our ears bleed; once again, OpenLeft asks its readers if it should endorse; the YouTube election 2.0; an Obama video is Obama-sistable; Peter Daou defends Hillary against three myths about the race; Obama has more Twitter followers than anyone (take that, Scoble!); and CafePress charts the most popular candidates showing up on t-shirts.

Twitter claims its first victim; Obama dominates YouTube; small donors play a big part in the presidential, not so much in smaller races; Obama Girl does *not* win a YouTube video award; despite sharing dip and nachos with Bubba, Bill Richardson endorses Obama.

New technologies that may impact '08; one GOP consultant's Amazon wishlist; a relationship between online video and fundraising?; a peek at Election 2024; McCain's catatonic blog; the non-existent link between experience and presidential greatness; YouTube expands YouChoose; MoveOn gears up for '08; Mindy Finn on her Romney role; and a new networked investigative resource.

What a night! Clinton is victorious in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island; our charts show an Obama rise despite the real-world polls; John McCain is now the nominee, and Mike Huckabee is out; McCain's splash page mimics a recent Oscar winner; Obama's site served undecideds better than Clinton's; a petition asking Hillary to step aside might have to be scrapped; Twitter saved the night, again; Eric Boehlert is impressed with a netroots letter-sending campaign; Jay-Z robocalls for Obama; and a major flap about Obama's skin tone is just ugly.