We all know blogs are here to stay and can have a significant impact in advocacy and campaigns. But have you wondered why?

David Perlmutter, Professor of Communications at the University of Kansas wondered just how a medium for personalized communication rose from obscurity and fringe status in the late 90s to power, influence and popularity today.

He wrote about it in his book Blog Wars and spoke about some of his findings at Wednesday's Internet Advocacy Roundatable, at the Center for American Progress.

The success of blogs in politics, he said, can be attributed to how blogs address two "master truths:"

The Master Truth in Politics - "the most important message in any campaign is the candidate." With the personal writing style and regular updates that blogs afford, campaigns can present each candidate better than ever before.

The Master Truth in Persuasion- Success mass communication is that which best approximates successful personal commuication. In other words, the moment you are looking for is when the audience feels "like he was talking to me personally." With blogs, that is much easier than television, press releases or radio.

Perlmutter s book is not just another compilation of unbelievable success stories meant to sell the world on technology. Rather it is a complete and throurough look at the blog as a political communication tool- how it found its way into politics, the pros and cons, breakthroughs and pitfalls.