Virtual Campaigning A Real Hit For Parties

By Greg Lefevre/CNN

SAN DIEGO (AllPolitics, Aug. 11) -- Like television decades ago, the Internet has created a new revolution in American political campaigns.

Experts say the importance of traditional events like conventions will eventually wane because of growing political reliance on the Internet.

Right now, Internet surfers are an elite group -- a technically sophisticated, politically active slice of the electorate that reads more, votes more and earns an average $59,000 a year, says James Pitkow, a Georgia Tech graduate researcher.

The Internet and politics fuel each other. A Georgia Tech survey found Web surfers become more politically active and political activists surf the Web more. Said Pitkow: "91.9 percent of the users who responded are registered to vote, and a whopping 72 percent go to the polls," said Pitkow.

As a means of communication, the Internet is cheap. And it provides more interaction than traditional political ads.

Little wonder the Republican Party installed a massive coast-to-coast computer network to pump out its message via the Internet.

"We're convinced that when people see Bob Dole's message complete and uncut ... they'll realize that he's the new leader for this country," said Republican web guru Gus Pace. (67 K AIFF or WAV sound)

The Georgia Tech survey respondents say the Internet ranks among the top three sources of political information, behind TV news and newspapers but ahead of radio and magazines. "So I think the Web will have a very strong impact on the 1996 elections," Pitkow said.

The percentage of Republicans and Democrats is about split among Web users, but there is a disproportionately large number of Libertarians.

"Traditionally, the Internet has been a pretty Libertarian place," said Sara Julian of Yahoo, a popular Internet search site. "If you look around, the Libertarian parties in different states are much more likely to have Web pages, and they are much more likely to have had them for a while."

There are some flies in the electronic ointment. Web experts warn that authentication of some "official" political Web sites may be difficult. There is real opportunity for misinformation, and the net abounds with spoof and parody sites.

But political strategists figure that when it comes to reaching voters, the Internet's pluses easily outweigh the minuses. The Republicans, for instance, go directly to the people with online chats and news conferences.

"The questions here are unfiltered," said Dole pollster Tony Fabrizio. "They're not coming to this with a pre-bias in most cases. They're coming for information. I do lots of interviews with the media, and they've already been spun by somebody either on our side or the other side. These people (Internet users) have no spin."

Not that both political parties aren't trying. The good news for the Republicans, say reviewers for the Lycos search site, is that the GOP Web site ranks ahead of the Democrats'. The bad news, says Lycos, is that Dole's Web site has more zip than the candidate himself.

Related Sites:

• Clinton/Gore campaign site
• Dole/Kemp campaign site
• Libertarian Party site

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