I'm thinking about influence here.
I recall in 2004 that pretty much everyone in the chattering class lived and died by Matt Drudge's swirling siren. But not so much anymore. Actually, it seems that no one but the right pays him much attention anymore. Most other folks got his M.O. down and clearly see how Drudge tries to steer the national conversation though an extremely selective inclusion of stories -- and the swirly siren thingy too.
But the rising star this year seems to be Nate Silver and his 538 blog, at least in terms of covering the horse race and having influence on the narrative. The counter to this observation, however, is of course the large number of stories about "Mittmentum."
Thoughts?