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How Gephardt and the Dems lost |
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But overall, Republicans currently hold a major advantage. The Republican National Committee has compiled an email list of about 2 million people through aggressive advertising and marketing of its Web site. By contrast, the Democratic National Committee has a list about one-fifth that size. The RNC also maintains a database of about 200 million names, similar to Aristotle's, that it shares with GOP groups nationwide, allowing them to target likely voters by region and other factors. The Republican congressional leadership site, GOP.gov, has 1,650 email lists that users can join, broken down by everything from geography to issues to the frequency with which subscribers want to receive mail.
The Republicans may have this advantage simply because affluent people buy into new technologies first, and also because they have a steady income stream that allows them to invest in infrastructure (Democrats tend to spend everything they have each election cycle). But it's more likely that they have achieved this advantage because they are tougher and smarter than their opponents. According to a source close to the decision-making process, Democrats had an opportunity to set up a system similar to the GOP's. But they declined because Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) wanted more personal attention and nixed a party-wide email and news system, which he felt didn't put enough emphasis on him. A spokeswoman for Gephardt disputes this account and says that the decision not to mimic GOP.gov was made mainly for financial reasons, adding, "They're different sites and they do different things."
Nevertheless, to understand the extent of the Democrats' disadvantage, one need do no more than visit the search engine Google.com and enter "House of Representatives, Republicans." You'll be linked to GOP.gov with its 1,650 email lists. Then try "House of Representatives, Democrats." You'll get Gephardt's homepage and a little link at the bottom of your screen offering you the opportunity to sign up for "The Gephardt Report."
On Internet issues, the Republican rank-and-file generally seem one step ahead. According to a recent report by the Bivings Group, a Washington-based Internet communications company, Republican incumbents running for reelection in the House are 50 percent more likely to have functioning Web sites. Their sites are also easier to find, more likely to allow users to give online donations, and more likely to provide information on how visitors to the site can volunteer for the campaign.
When it comes to making good use of the Internet, Democrats do have some interesting challengers in the House. Jack Conway, a young candidate in Kentucky's competitive Third District, has constructed an impressive Web site, devoted himself to building a mailing list, and hired the firm netcampaign, one of the most respected strategy companies in the business, to handle his online strategy. But to take back the House, Democrats need to wrest more than half-a-dozen seats from Republicans, not one. And if they do so, all indications are that it will be because of something besides the 'net.
In the Senate, Democrats are in much better shape. Their incumbents fared slightly better than Republican Senators did in the Bivings Group poll and, more important, in the close races, the Democratic candidates have moved quickly online. Sen. Jean Carnahan (D-Mo.), who is in a tight Missouri race against former Rep. Jim Talent (R-Mo.), has already shown that she knows how to use the Internet. Paul Wellstone in Minnesota and Tim Johnson in South Dakota are two more Democrats who have also undertaken impressive online strategies, methodically culling addresses and recruiting volunteers. Chellie Pingree, a Democratic Senate candidate in Maine (see sidebar), is another Internet-aided candidate who might pull off an Election Day upset.
The Republicans, too, are moving full speed ahead in the tight races. Ben Whitney, campaign manager for Wellstone challenger Norm Coleman, says that the Internet is "potentially the greatest political tool of all time" and the campaign has set up all the essentials. John Thune, challenging Johnson in South Dakota, has created an online strategy that is in many ways similar to John Kerry's. Elizabeth Dole has hired Mike Bloomberg's online team to provide a little extra juice in the Tarheel state.
When it comes to governorships, the parties seem about evenly split, but one race to keep an eye on is in Texas. Democratic nominee Tony Sanchez built one of the most sophisticated Internet operations in the country during the primary, and stands a genuine chance of knocking off George W. Bush's successor, Republican Rick Perry. "The Internet's not a novelty, but a useful tool that can do down-and-dirty work," says Nathan Wilcox, Sanchez's chief Internet strategist. "It creates grassroots politics on steroids." He's right---and the party that understands that will probably prevail in 2002.
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http://2act.org/p/184.html | 07/31/10 19:46 GMT
Modified: Sun, 16 Apr 2006 02:33:23 GMT
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