To extend the analogy, reading a book is similar. And you'll like your choice with this volume. Trippi tells a good tale and writes as if engaged in a conversation. He connects.

For those who know Howard Dean did not agree with them, rest assured. Though Trippi has been a Democratic Party partisan proponent all his life, the book is not focused on issues-politics. George W. Bush, the Iraq War and Republicans are mentioned only in passing.

"There's one thing that most people don't understand about presidential campaigns. Everything."

Those brash words lead off the second chapter. Trippi's a man who has been involved in more than 100 campaigns for getting others into elected office. He explains it's a hard thankless job and one in which people don't really make money, though Trippi did, and in the six figures. But here he's talking more generally:

"Working day-to-day on a presidential campaign is undoubtedly the stupidest human endeavor ever conceived. And I believe everyone should do it once."

The dust jacket, the cover, the introduction all set up the idea that the Internet continues to change democracy. It's hard to argue with the numbers.

On the cover, that part of the book we're not supposed to judge by, there are three clear elements in the photo collage: Dean's open-mouthed energy, the "http" of a Web address and, bigger than any other, the talisman of Trippi's future, a sign reading: YOU GOTTA BELIEVE.

Certainly the Dean campaign's early fund-raising effort brought the people, one by one, back into the political process. A lot of people believed. Now those who go to www.johnkerry.com or georgewbush.com can donate, with a mouse click.

Perhaps by default, Trippi will be proved correct about his vision of the Internet.

It's a literal fact that the numbers of people who have never heard of the Internet are dying off. So it seems obvious to say that those who've grown up with the Internet, or who have used it to keep in touch with their far-flung children, will feel a greater and greater comfort level with it. As a general statement, for the younger generations, it is already a significant part of their lives.

Still, Trippi does not, ultimately, describe a revolution.

At the end of the day - with all the hope generated by Trippi and his passion, one sad reality to politics hasn't changed. It's still all about big money, however it's collected.

When that changes, that's the revolution.

NOTE: I'm writing this review for my newspaper. But you guys are getting it first. The book is released July 6. I received an advance copy because I run a Web site called PolState.com. I knew the book was being delivered and had it not been signed to me, I was going to give it to a contributor there. Shockingly, PolState.com has Republican and Democratic contributors from across the country. Though there is strong disagreement, I can envision everyone still being quite willing and happy to get together for a beer and a regular conversation, shooting some pool and sharing hopes and family pictures. That's needed. I welcome that evolution more than anything.