Big media executives concede that the ad bottom is falling out of their Teflon earnings proclamations earlier this year. The best will develop enterprising new business ventures to survive. A deep, protracted recession is one thing; a permanent digital shift in industry economics is another.

There is a lesson in president-elect Barack Obama's calculated win for all media and advertising players struggling to crack the targeted demographics code: Know your constituents. It is one of a handful of ways that the fortunes of the new Democratic administration and the media world are joined at the hip.

An Obama administration will seek to advance, integrate and monetize technology, the Internet and all media in new and innovative ways. He'll also pursue a vigorous antitrust policy, singling out the media as a consolidation-prone industry.

The tumultuous 24 months of presidential campaigning feels like an eternity. It has been bound by digital interactivity that has played an unprecedented role intensifying voices and votes and will continue redefining American politics and democracy. That is a bipartisan victory for all the people.

While Internet advertising may be demonstrating some vulnerability in the recession, it is providing marketers with enough measurable ROI to intensify the pain of broadcasters, newspapers and other traditional media in this down cycle.