Not Your Father's Bus: Life on the Campaign Trail

Dec. 14, 2007 — -- Every minute of every day — from the smallest county in Iowa to the latest mega fundraiser in New York — ABC News has dispatched several young reporters to spread out across the nation delivering the latest news from the campaign trail.

It's a historic election — the first wide open nomination race without a sitting president or vice president on the ballot in more than a half a century. The traditional campaign bus has been replaced by corporate jets; Internet access is available almost everywhere; and, every move the candidates make is tracked not just by the morning paper but by blogs and digital cameras.

To mark the occasion, ABC News teamed up with Facebook to allow readers and the millions of Facebook faithful to get exclusive access to dispatches straight from the trail.

It's cold, it's late, it's less than three weeks until the Iowa caucuses, do you know where your 2008 White House candidate is? Sign up to follow your favorite candidate or all on the candidates by registering on Facebook and downloading the U.S. Politics application.

Check out the latest samples from our reporters in the field every day:

Sunlen Miller (following the Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., campaign)

Recently this week I've felt more like an entertainment reporter than a political reporter. Barack Obama is using the celebrity factor for the fourth straight day in a row. Friday night he held a concert at the Riviera in downtown Chicago with Jeff Tweedy, and Macy Gray. Then it was the Oprahpalooza tour with four stops in three states in two days. Monday he held a Los Angeles fundraiser where Chris Brown, Ne-Yo and the Goo Goo Dolls came out. We're headed back to Iowa soon — where I've heard we're doing a "small town" bus tour — and the highlights of L.A. will be just a distant memory…

For more, take a look at Sunlen's Facebook profile here: http://www.facebook.com/person.php?id=6929836859

Matt Stuart (following the Republican Mitt Romney campaign)

At a campaign event today Romney revealed that he might be a bit competitive with his fellow runners at the gym. As Romney went to introduce himself to another woman, she told him she was on the treadmill next to him that morning. Romney laughed and said that he was "being very careful, just look straight ahead." But Romney then added, "You were working hard. I noticed that. 5.5 or so — ?" The woman chuckled and said, "Uhh. … I guess so."

For more, here is Matt's Facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/person.php?id=6883141986