Now that the 2008 Summer Olympics have come to a close, the mobile industry is looking for the next big news event that could drive traffic and create long-term users for the new medium in the U.S. And based on just a handful of events and announcements that have occurred within hours of the huge fireworks display at the closing ceremonies in Beijing, they have their hearts set on the U.S. presidential election. Based on early findings, it could be a good pair. The Pew Internet And American Life Project found that a record-breaking 46 percent of Americans have used the internet, email or text messaging to get news about the campaign. Here are some other indications that make the case:

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—Barack Obama announces his running mate via text: As many of you may know, Obama said he’d announce his VP by sending a text message to his loyal followings. It did not end up working out exactly according to plan, with both traditional media outlets, like the LA Times and The NY Times breaking the news first that Joe Biden was going to be his running mate, but it was close. Read more about it in Matt Kapko’s post.

—MediaFLO launches news channels: MediaFLO, which provides broadcast content to some phones on both AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless’ (NYSE: VZ) networks, said it will be adding three new news channels in time for the elections and democratic and republican national conventions. The three additions are: CNBC, MSNBC and Fox News. We have more details here.

More after the jump...