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It seems that the Republicans have learned their lesson. Michigan Republican Chairman Saul Anuzis recently announced his intent to lead the Republican Party in a very unlikely place: the micro-blogging social network, Twitter.

He's not the only Republican jumping onto the social media bandwagon these days – other GOP candidates are also launching profiles on Facebook, MySpace, and other social media platforms in preparation for the 2010 midterm elections. John McCain may not like the idea, but his colleagues doing the right thing – unless the Republican Party learns to embrace technology and incorporate it into the party agenda, it's bound to face another landslide defeat against those geeky Democrats.

Who would've thought? Social media networks like Twitter were initially thought to be popular with people in their teens and twenties. But social media is apparently more than just finding out when the next Xbox party is – US President-elect and tech-savvy Democratic Senator Barack Obama incorporated it into his campaign so seamlessly that fund-raising, media outreach, and voter mobilization seemed to come naturally. McCain, who “invented” the Blackberry but “never found a good use for e-mail,” never stood a chance.

The movement among Republicans to use the Internet as a tool for the party's activities is gaining ground. Some GOP members are initiating rebuilding efforts on the Internet, citing several internal reforms and movements that they believe the Republicans need to follow if they'd like to regain the prominence in US politics they enjoyed in years past.

I'd actually like to see how well the Republicans do with their efforts. Despite the much-maligned image that George W. Bush unfortunately bestowed upon the GOP, many Republicans are really well-meaning officials who simply want the best for their country. Utilizing the media leverage that Internet-based social networks can give them, they just might be able to bridge the divide between red and blue over the next few years. After all, it's precisely what got Obama's message across countries, ages, and racial divides over the past year and a half.

One thing I'm worried about, though, is that the GOP might leverage social networks to malign the now-dominant Democratic Party instead of bolster its own grass-roots image. It could be just the McCain-Palin ticket in the previous elections that seemed so underhanded and political during the campaign, but it's still left the idea that the Republican Party can tend to resort to mudslinging and name-calling to get support. Seriously, I'd hate to see the Republican Party degrade into the world's biggest troll.

I guess our RSS feeds over the next three years will be the judge of that.