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Special Report: Politics and the Internet
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (politicsonline)
Thu Jan 25 22:15:48 2001
From: "politicsonline" <politicsonline@politicsonline.com>
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Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 17:26:48 -0500
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From the dawn of online fundraising to real-time Election Night returns, the
Internet and politics became inexorably fused in the course of the 2000
campaign season. Each day brings a new innovation, a new surprise, a new
way for candidates and officials to reach out to voters, a new connection
between citizens and government. Because you can't afford to miss a single
development, we're sending you our Fourth Annual Report on the Internet and
Politics in the U.S. and Worldwide.
For a limited time only, we are offering free subscription to our e-journal,
NetPulse. PoliticsOnline is recognized globally as a leader in the
development and provision of tools and services to effectively use the
Internet in the political arena.
Twice a month, NetPulse provides subscribers with the latest news, analysis,
and commentary on e-political developments from all 50 states and from our
contributing editors in 78 countries across the globe. Additionally, Net
users can read up on all aspects of the Internet and politics in our
extensive searchable online database.
If you enjoy these features and more, we invite you to become a NetPulse
subscriber -- just point your browser to http://netpulse.politicsonline.com
and join up!
===============================================
2001 Special Report on the Internet and Politics
The 4th annual analysis of worldwide trends, strategies and practices
N e t P u l s e - - the e-journal of politicking on the Internet
Volume 5, Number 1
Jan. 25, 2001
A project of PoliticsOnline - -
Fund-raising and Internet tools for politics
For your free subscription, click here (http://www.politicsonline.com ).
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HOTSPOT: With this issue of NetPulse, we announce an easier way to read
what's going on with the Internet and politics. Now, you can click online
to a special NetPulse Web site - - http://netpulse.politicsonline.com Even
better: it's searchable. Enjoy.
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WHAT'S INSIDE:
*******************
The political Internet came to life in 2000. For the first time, anybody
who wanted to be somebody in politics had a Web presence. Politicians and
political professionals turned to the Web to deepen relationships, raise
money, build awareness, and organize, organize, organize. In short, the
digital campaign came of age in 2000.
In our fourth annual Special Report on the Internet and politics, we'll
review the lessons of 2000 and showcase the highlights of the year - in U.S.
news, international news, ideas, statistics and more. Bottom line: all of
these point to something even bigger online in the months and years ahead.
OUR 2000 PREDICTIONS: See how well our prognostications turned out.
OUR 2001 PREDICTIONS: See what's going to happen this year.
HOTQUOTES OF THE YEAR: Two Republicans nail the year's top quotes.
NEAT IDEAS: From pop-up windows to satires, the year 2000 was filled with
neat Internet ideas.
COOL NUMBERS: Six key figures to remember from 2000.
WEB SITES OF THE YEAR: The best of political Web sites in 2000.
INTERNATIONAL STORIES OF THE YEAR: The top five international politics and
Internet stories of 2000.
U.S. POLITICAL INTERNET NEWS OF THE YEAR. The top five U.S. stories of 2000
about the Internet and politics.
SOUNDOFF: Editor Andy Brack looks at how the political Internet will
leapfrog internationally this year.
OUR PARTNERS: A quick look at CivisNetwork and Electorales.com
JOIN. How you can become part of NetPulse and PoliticsOnline.
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OUR 2000 PREDICTIONS
======================
Here's what we predicted last year. As you can see, we prognosticated
pretty well:
** Everyone will agree that the Internet in politics in 2000 is what TV was
to politics in 1960.
This year, the Internet didn't replace TV, but everybody out there was
talking about how it was a "must" for national and statewide campaigns. The
seeds of change are sown; we'll continue to harvest for years.
** There will be a defining moment in the 2000 presidential race that is
Internet-related.
Yep, but there were several moments: John McCain's fantastic post-New
Hampshire online fundraising; vote-swapping Web sites; an online primary in
Arizona; TV viewers who turned to the Net in the wee hours of the U.S.
presidential news coverage to find out what was really going on.
** The 2000 presidential campaigns will raise more than $20 million in total
online.
True again. PoliticsOnline is compiling a final analysis, but initial
results show online contributions in 2000 presidential politics totaled
$20-25 million.
** Online advertising will become an integral campaign tool.
Candidates used online banner ads and, perhaps more importantly, e-mail and
SMS advertising to push their messages. It wasn't widespread, but serious
experimentation started.
OUR PREDICTIONS FOR 2001
=========================
Here's what we think will happen this year:
** Online voting will be under the microscope.
With the Florida chaos, everyone will be looking closely at the potential
for online voting. While in the U.S., they'll be talking about it, voters
in countries like Brazil, Costa Rica, Sweden and France will actively
experiment with online voting in real elections.
** A political Napster will strike again.
To net-savvy observers, NaderTrader and other vote-swapping sites were
hugely important - not because of the number of votes traded, but because
they were the first example of peer-to-peer use of the Internet in politics.
Expect another big P2P development in 2001.
** Online issue advocacy will explode.
Online advocacy works. It's cheap and a lot of folks around the globe have
figured it out. With a deadlocked U.S. Congress, activists will be looking
for even the smallest advantage in areas like campaign finance, privacy and
more. Internationally, hot online and offline issues will be environment,
sweatshop labor and trade.
** E-government will become a political issue.
This year, e-government will be every U.S. politician's new favorite issue.
At all levels, politicians are starting to figure it out. It's real simple:
with online government services, you can do more, it costs less and people
want it. With dark economic clouds on the horizon, this one is a
no-brainer.
HOTQUOTES OF THE YEAR
=======================
"The Internet has just changed politics."
- - Max Fose, campaign online manager for Sen. John McCain after his N.H.
primary win spurred $1 million in online donations in two days, 2/4/00.
"Thank you for your e-mail. This Internet of yours is a wonderful
invention."
- - Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush to Democratic VP Al
Gore, after he called for debates, 4/2/00.
NEAT IDEAS
==========
There were so many neat ideas that it's hard to pick. More:
http://netpulse.politicsonline.com. Some highlights:
POP-UP WINDOWS. From the moment they started - pop-up donation windows -
they spread like wildfire. They were annoying, but a good way to get across
the point that money fuels campaigns. (NetPulse 4.04).
ROLLING CYBERDEBATES. The rolling cyberdebates (NetPulse 4.19) offered by
Web White & Blue (http://www.webwhiteblue.org) offered an extended five-week
discussion on presidential issues by six candidates.
NATIONAL DATABASE. The Republican National Committee tested a Web
application this year that would allow Republican candidates to go online in
a password-protected area to access voter files. Such a national database
(NetPulse 4.22) could have a huge organizational and fund-raising impact.
SATIRE PETITION. A Canadian television show started a petition to get
Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day to change his name to "Doris." It
was wildly successful with more than 900,000 signatures (NetPulse 4.23).
CALL YOUR GRANDMA. The Third Millennium and Citizens for Better Medicare
generated an online wildfire of interest in its Medicare reform site,
CallYourGrandma.com, when it offered users a free 10-minute phone card to
discuss its issues. Great use of the Net by an advocacy group to build
interest in an issue.
COOL NUMBERS
==============
Surveys and poll numbers show the Internet is expanding its reach
politically. For the latest, go to the Cool Numbers section of the
PoliticsOnline Web site. Here, however, are some Year 2000 highlights:
ONLINE VOTING. Some 35 percent of Americans said in September that they
thought they should be able to vote online. About half were Internet users;
18 percent who wanted the online power were not Internet users in the survey
by TV Tech and Rasmussen Research.
MILLIONS VISITED, CAUSED DELAYS. Online news outlets experienced exponential
growth in traffic from Election Day forward because of presidential results.
On Election Day, for example, CNN's traffic jumped 439 percent (NetPulse
4.23) and was churning through 2.5 million hits a minute (NetPulse 4.22).
The huge amount of traffic, however, caused substantial delays, according to
various sources.
LEARNING ONLINE. Two in three Americans said they'd turn to the Net by
Election Day to learn something about the candidates, according to July poll
by UPI (NetPulse 4.15).
REGISTRATION. Some 1 million Americans registered online to vote by June,
The Economist reported (NetPulse 4.13). The number was projected to reach 5
million by Election Day.
CONNECTED ALL OVER. The U.S leads Internet penetration (51 percent of
households connected), but European countries are making great strides
toward increased connectivity. Some 31 percent of British citizens are
connected, 25 percent of Germans and 17 percent of the French (NetPulse
4.18).
GIVING. One percent of visitors to Bill Bradley's Web site donated money
(NetPulse 4.09).
WEB SITES OF THE YEAR
=====================
More than 50 political professionals and activists from around the world
served as NetPulse contributing editors in 2000. In this Special Report, we
offer our fourth Best of the World Wide Web awards chosen by our editors and
users. Winners were top Web sites that exhibited editorial excellence, rich
content, political relevance, good use of the new technologies, and
innovation in combining politics and the Internet.
MOST VALUABLE INTERNET PLAYER OF 2000:
Sen. John McCain (http://www.mccain2000.com).
Sen. John McCain's New Hampshire primary win served as the spark that made
politicos realize the importance of online fundraising. McCain, who raised
$1 million online in just two days after the N.H. election, raked in the
bucks and became every campaign's bellwether to measure online fundraising
success. For his vision to allow his campaign to use the Net's potential,
McCain is our MVP of 2000. Runner up: The RNC's Larry Purpuro for putting
the Republican Party on the path to maximizing new uses of the Net.
NET EVENT OF THE YEAR:
VP Gore halting Election Night concession because of Web results.
For five weeks, the U.S. plunged into presidential election uncertainty. The
main reason: When Vice President Al Gore was on his way to concede in the
wee hours of Election Night, an aide noticed updated results on the Florida
Secretary of State's election Web site that showed a huge drop in George W.
Bush's numbers. Gore decided against conceding and the rest is presidential
history - all sparked by the Internet.
GENERAL POLITICAL SITE OF 2000:
CNN's AllPolitics (http://www.cnn.com/allpolitics).
So many of our politico friends and contributors remarked at the breadth of
coverage provided by CNN's AllPolitics that it earned best General Political
Site of 2000. Last year's runner up, CNN boosted its coverage and became an
industry news leader. Runners up: Voter.com (http://www.voter.com),
Freedom Channel (http://www.freedomchannel.com) and WashingtonPost.com
(http://washingtonpost.com).
INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SITE OF 2000:
PoliticsWatch (http://www.politicswatch.com).
This full-service Canadian political portal features a U.S. political look
but is filled with resources and information about Canadian politics. It's
well-done, well-used and a thorough addition to your bookmark list.
U.S. CAMPAIGN SITE OF 2000:
AlGore.com (http://www.algore.com)
Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore's campaign made the best overall
use of the Web in its campaign. From easy-to-use news and issues to
high-tech toys like Palm Pilot news delivery and frequent Webcast
opportunities, this "father of the Internet" proved he knew what he was
doing online.
U.S. ELECTED OFFICIAL SITE OF 2000:
WhiteHouse.gov (http://www.whitehouse.gov).
WhiteHouse.gov offers a complete online record of the Clinton Presidency. It
offers information for a wide range of users - - tour information for
tourists; historical trivia for kids; calendars and more. Political wonks
can wallow in radio addresses, press releases and every executive order
issued over eight years.
BEST PARODY SITE OF THE YEAR:
GWBush.com (http://www.gwbush.com).
Not only did GWBush.com rack up more early hits than the official George W.
Bush presidential site, but organizer Zack Exley's site got under the skin
of the Bush folks so much that they whined to the FCC to intervene. Talk
about impact - this site had it.
(NEW AWARD) BEST TECHNOLOGY USE OF THE YEAR:
Nader Trader (http://www.nadertrader.org).
Just when you think things are getting boring, somebody comes up with a new
way to do something. Hats off to the folks at NaderTrader and clone sites
for launching and organizing to allow Gore supporters in safe states to cast
ballots for Ralph Nader for a trade of a Gore vote in a swing state. There's
no telling of the real impact, but the grassroots idea is a perfect use of
the Web to try to make a difference.
INTERNATIONAL STORIES OF THE YEAR
==================================
A look at the top five international stories about the Internet and politics
in 2000:
A CYBERWAR RAGES IN THE MIDEAST. Israelis and Arabs are at each other's
throats on the Web, as we reported in NetPulse 4.21. Israeli hackers posted
pro-Israel graphics and music on Hezbollah's anti-Zionist Islamic Web site.
But pro-Arab activists struck back by sending hundreds of thousands of
"hostile electronic signals" to official Israeli sites, according to The
Washington Post. Online tensions show no signs of abating.
BRITISH SURFERS PROTEST DURING FUEL CRISIS. Had it not been for the
Internet and mobile phones, this fall's huge protest about fuel prices
likely wouldn't have happened, The Register reported (NetPulse 4.18). The
electronic tools allowed protesters to communicate and organize.
Furthermore, keeping up with all of the information, protesters were able to
organize live protests and interfere with petrol deliveries.
FILIPINOS USE INTERNET TO TRY TO OUST PRESIDENT. Filipinos flooded
cyberspace and jammed phone lines in October in a protest against President
Joseph Estrada. The online effort was in stark contrast to minor street
protests about allegations that the president was linked to a gambling
syndicate. As the episode wound down, Web protests failed to generate the 1
million online petition signatures sought by organizers and Estrada remained
in office. But protests showed how the Net could be used to drive political
events in the Philippines. (NetPulse 4.21, 4.22).
FIRST AFRICAN INTERNET ELECTION. The Movement for Democratic Change in
Zimbabwe exploited e-mail and used its Web site to transfer political
information in what The Financial Times in June called Africa's first
Internet election. The MDC's use of the Internet fell short, but its
efforts early this year was the first real challenge to the ruling Zanu-PF
party. MDC got 59 seats in Parliament, compared to 62 by Zanu-PF. (NetPulse
4.13).
VIRTUAL SEATS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA? In an illustration about how far the
Internet has gone in Australia, the state of South Australia this year
considered reserving two seats in its upper legislative chamber for virtual
voters. The plan, if it had been approved, would have allowed expatriates
to have a chance to participate in government online. (NetPulse 4.17).
U.S. POLITICAL INTERNET NEWS OF THE YEAR
=========================================
This round-up of the top five U.S. Internet political stories shows new ways
the Internet wove its way into politics in 2000:
1. Americans flood the Internet for election and post-election news.
When the television networks called the presidential race for Gore, for Bush
and then declared it a toss-up, Internet users around the world turned to
the Internet to see the real results. Such a phenomenon - believing the Net
more than the TV - highlights how powerful the medium has become. In the
weeks that followed, major news Web sites from CNN and MSNBC to political
party sites broke traffic records. And another thing happened - the
uncertainty spawned the Internet as the national watercooler. People shared
jokes online about the Florida mess. They created new satire Web sites.
They launched petitions. And they raised Cain. All in all, the Internet
proved its strength as a great communications and organizational tool
during - and after - the U.S. elections.
2. Online politics first: Arizona hosts first Internet primary.
The Arizona Democratic Party held the nation's first binding Internet
presidential primary on March 11. More than 35,000 people used the Net to
vote - almost triple the number who voted in the party's traditional 1996
primary. The primary, however, wasn't all hunky-dory. The Voting Integrity
Project tried to shut down the primary. There were some security problems
during the primary. But when it was all over, pro-online voting advocates
hailed it as a success. Others said online voting needed work. Online
voting as a real alternative surfaced again following the controversy
surrounding the Florida presidential results. Just about everywhere you
turned, another pundit was writing about online voting. More: See
PoliticsOnline's Media Reference Center.
3. Vote-auction, vote-swap sites provide election twists.
One of the most clever uses of the Web was attempts by sites to sell or
trade votes during the U.S. elections. While authorities in Illinois and
other areas quickly moved to shut down vote auction sites for violating laws
(the site moved offshore and the creator eventually said it was a satire),
vote swapping sites followed and caught fire. The idea, generated from a
newspaper column, worked like this: somebody in a swing state who wanted to
vote for Ralph Nader would trade their vote with somebody in a safe Gore
state to do two things: push Gore over the top in the swing state and help
Nader get at least 10 percent in the safe state. In view of the election
results, some say it worked too well ... for George W. Bush. More: NetPulse
4.17, 4.20, 4.21.
4. The Internet at the big political conventions: dud or dandy?
The Republican and Democratic national conventions featured all sorts of
gizmos, gadgets and doo-dads. SpeakOut.com, for example, featured an online
dial meter during speeches. Pseudo.com's 360-degree camera sounded cool
during the GOP convention, but they bagged the effort later. Neatest thing:
Hackers helped reporters in Philadelphia cover protests by publishing police
scanner frequencies. Most observers say the first online conventions were
neat, but filled with more glamour than substance. Major news outlets
experienced 14% to 25 % drops in traffic. Sites had all sorts of
technological problems and delays. Bottom line: Good first effort; more
substance needed next time. More: NetPulse 4.16, 4.17.
5. McCain's campaign energizes online donations.
Sen. John McCain's Straight Talk campaign lit an online fundraising fire
(NetPulse 4.04) following his Feb. 1 primary victory. By combining the
online tool with telephone solicitations, he raked in $6.4 million online by
April (NetPulse 4.09). His campaign's use of the online fundraising
component was sparked in part by vigorous use in 1999 by Democrat Bill
Bradley. But McCain showed his commitment to the Web by using it to have
the first online fundraising cyberconference (NetPulse 4.03) and using the
Web for damage control (NetPulse 4.03).
SOUNDOFF
=========
The political Internet: Leapfrogging toward worldwide innovation
By Andy Brack
Editor
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Like an unruly teen-ager in a growth spurt, the Internet
came into its own in American politics in 2000.
Now that the Internet is an accepted and must-have political tool across
America, look for growing international uses over the next couple of years.
Politicians and parties around the world now will turn to the online
examples set by Al Gore, George W. Bush, Ralph Nader, John McCain, Bill
Bradley, Steve Forbes and a host of others to see what worked and what
didn't. They'll improve on what was done in America and take the medium to
the next level. They'll make advances to make the Net deliver a better
organized electorate and field campaign. They'll boost Internet advocacy
and communications mechanics. And they'll make online fundraising
innovations.
This game of political Internet leapfrogging will continue - Americans now
will learn from people throughout the world, just as they learned from
Americans. The political Internet in the U.S. won't be stagnant, though.
Look for more developments and cool uses of the medium in 2001.
Bottom line: Innovations from the 2000 election cycle will rub off
internationally to create what truly will become the World Wide Political
Web.
OUR PARTNERS
==============
NetPulse and PoliticsOnline is expanding its global reach through key
projects in Europe and Latin America. For full coverage of e-politics
around the world, you can also go to:
** Civis Network - This European portal is being developed by PoliticsOnline
as a citizens' information and activist network for citizen action in
Europe. More: info@civisnetwork.com
** Electorales.com - Our new Latin American partner is the premier political
Internet news and tools provider for Spanish-speaking markets worldwide.
NEW FREE STUFF!
=================
PoliticsOnline (http://www.politicsonline.com) continues to be the leading
provider of political Internet information and tools:
NETPULSE. Now it's easier than ever to access NetPulse, the biweekly
e-journal of politicking on the Internet. With this issue, we unveil our
new site - http://netpulse.politicsonline.com. Visit this new site and
you'll see how easy it is to find archived information through our new
search engine and array of links.
THE WEEKLY POLITICKER. The Weekly Politicked debuted this year as a weekly
roundup of the news on everything that's going on with the political
Internet. Used in coordination with NetPulse, you won't miss a thing
involving the Internet and politics.
INSTANT ONLINE FUNDRAISER, VERSION 2.0. Our highly-acclaimed immediate
fundraising solution has a host of new enhancements that will make it easy
for your campaign to receive contributions. Our software allows your
campaign to use the power of the Internet to raise money through a secure
platform.
JOIN
====
If you'd like to be a part of the PoliticsOnline team, contact us at:
Phone: (843) 853-3002
Fax: (843) 722-4283
E-mail: editor@politicsonline.com
Publisher...........................Phil
Noble...........phil@politicsonline.com
Editor...............................Andy
Brack.........brack@politicsonline.com
VP Operations (Intl)....Brannen Greenslade...brannen@politicsonline.com
VP Operations (US)............Sally Burnett........sally@politicsonline.com
CIO..................................Arun
Bose...........arun@politicsonline.com
Dir. of Bus. Devt..................Trey
Rust............trey@politicsonline.com
Content editor.....................Andy
Hoefer........andyh@politicsonline.com
Webmaster.........................Russell
Jolly........jollyr@politicsonline.com
All information contained herein is copyright (c) 2000, 2001 by
PoliticsOnline. Reproduction in whole or in part without written consent is
prohibited.
