This effort was made possible because of the strength of Obama's Internet presence.  Obama far and away leads the GOP and Democratic field of presidential contenders in all tangible indicators on the Web.  More than 100,000 people are signed up on the Obama MySpace page, and more than 2 million people have viewed an Obama video via YouTube.  In addition, to these statistics, Obama also raised millions of dollars online particularly in small donations. 

The "Walk for Change" canvassing effort is the continuation of the online strategy to engage the grassroots, and it shows that this powerful Internet organization can be parlayed into real world results.  The total number of canvassers was 1,500, and they spent the weekend knocking on doors in 38 cities across the nation.  Iowa saw many of these supporters with 150 in Waterloo and 250 in Iowa City. 

The campaign believes because of their active online community that they will be able to reach out to Democratic activists in the early primary states i.e. Iowa and New Hampshire.  These types of massive grassroots outreach efforts combined with the Internet organization are changing the way many look at presidential campaigns.  Obama sees this type of campaign as en effort to spark serious discussion among Americans.  The campaign is not going to focus on typical sound bytes or 30 second advertisements, but instead use thier time, money, and talent to engage voters. 

While in Iowa on Saturday, Obama promised similar grass roots events in the coming months of the campaign.