Interactive forums allow avatars--virtual citizens--to engage in debates, attend political rallies, and even take part in "piggish" protests. Unlike US politicians whose headquarters have remained virtually unvisited save a few incidents of vandalism, the French candidates draw a significant number of daily visitors. Campaigns have reported daily visits for Royal at 20,000, 11,000 for Le Pen, 10,000 for Sarkozy, and 7,000 for Bayrou.

But virtual life is not so different from real life according to Guillaume Parisi, a member of the youth branch of the National Front Party who convinced Le Pen to become the first French Presidential candidate to open a headquarters in Second life. "Every time we organize a public event, we expect far left militants to come and demonstrate against us. Second Life is not that different." The battle between Le Pen and protesters that included push guns and pig grenades in January is proof of that. Le Pen's site was left in ruins.

"The emergence of political headquarters represents the next generation of Internet-based political campaigning," says Wagner James Au, a Second Life blogger who witnessed and reported the attack of Le Pen's headquarters. "The French are by far the most passionate about real-world politics in Second Life."

Second Life may only draw a crowd of the tech- savviest voters, but in an election where only a few points separate the contenders no one can afford to be absent.

French Politics in 3-D on Fantasy Web site
A Piggish Protest in Second Life