By now, we’ve all seen it.

With Tina Fey’s ‘SNL’ portrayals of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — and Palin-herself’s subsequent cameos — I’m kind of convinced this election has turned into a total circus. But I’m not really here to talk about primetime TV. I want to talk about how (forgive me) The Average Joe’s ability to self-publish has impacted the way we’ve paid attention to this election. After all, I did get the screenshot at left from a pop culture blog.

Maybe I shouldn’t call this phenomenon "pop culture politics," but it just sounds better to me than "cyber culture politics" does. Let me explain: Anyone, anywhere is available to set up a blog for free at sites like WordPress, Blogger or Livejournal. Then comes the Twitter account. And let’s not go into the ways anyone, anywhere can express his or her opinions on Facebook (the "status" option has become the bane of my existence, both during the occasional election season and, unfortunately, annual baseball season due to overzealous Cubs fans). Anyway, the list of ways we can express ourselves on the Internet goes on and on. And this makes available a literal countless number of avenues for the rest of us to consume news.

In gathering research for a print story, no one I spoke to saw limitless access to the Internet/virtual soapbox (same thing) as a bad development. As someone who learned from an early age the joys of self-publishing, I can’t say I feel it’s a bad thing, either. Hopefully the nasty stuff gets weeded out with the quality, creatively-driven blogs and projects out there on the Web.

While you’re waiting for a print story, check out these fun election links:

Sarah Palin as president. Alright, this one exhibits a bit too much of the macabre for my taste, but I included the link because the animation is awesome. Looks like Flash animators have a lot of time on their hands, what with the current recession and all …

Help Josh decide. Eek! There’s an undecided voter living in Ohio! Quick, convince him to come over to your side — he’ll let you know if your input was helpful or not.

Presidential pumpkin carving. Templates. One unique way to stick it to the man (or woman) of your choice.

Yes we can hold babies. A blog featuring pictures of Sen. Barack Obama cuddling babies on the campaign trail. Kinda precious.

Presidential bingo. Perhaps a great way to pass the following 8 days, sure to be chock-full of sound bytes from both camps.

And a local option: Haley speaks Youtube series. More on this young lady later.

That’s all I’ve got for now. And since I don’t have the option to hibernate until after the election is over, I’m off to plunge the depths of cyberspace for more quality election coverage from Joe Six Pack/Plumber/Laid Off Flash Animator.