REALLY? Are you sure of that and if so,prove it!
Well, Free Republic has had a profound effect. Website forums such as this one allowed for conservatives from all over the nation to share information.
As a public, we tend to have very short term memories. The internet made it possible to confirm priot events, sort through information, and put two and two together. For example "I remember Senator so and so said it was X last year but now he's saying it's Y" let me google it.