Barack Obama, running for president of the Teen Choice Awards, will announce his VP pick via text messages to supporters who give him their digits. This is, in a word, brilliant, and not because it generates a lot of publicity and gets supporters thinking they're really tight with O. Rather, it's because Obama's campaign will collect tens or hundreds of thousands of cell phone numbers of the people who like him. It's a calculated move; most phone banks are loaded up only with landline numbers gleaned from phone books and public records. With these digits, Obama has the power to reach people on their person. It has the added benefit of reminding Americans they would actually pay for the privilege of voting for someone via text message.

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