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April 18, 1999
Beyond Campaign Sites: Politicians Seek Support for Legislation Online
By By REBECCA FAIRLEY RANEY
n The Flat Tax Home Page, Representative Dick Armey, Republican of Texas, makes his point simply. The page invites people to use a special tax calculator to find out how much they would pay under his proposed flat-tax plan, and compare the results to their current tax burden. If they like, they can sign up to receive e-mail updates on how the House Majority Leader's proposals are faring.
The Democrats, not to be outdone, have a site touting "Dick Gephardt's 10% Tax Plan." "See the form!" it says. "It fits on a postcard!" The Web site provides an outline of the proposal, with examples of how much tax different groups would pay.
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(December 8, 1998)Now that Web sites are standard elements of election campaigns, the practice of building support for legislation online could prove to be a natural progression for politicians using the Internet. These tactics are far from common now, but the experiments offer a glimpse at how legislators might work the Internet crowd in the future.
"Politicians who understand the new medium will use it first and foremost to get into office," said Phil Noble, president of PoliticsOnline, a consulting firm in Charleston, S.C. "Once they get there, they'll use it to stay there."
The potential is clear: with a popular issue, a legislator with limited staff could use the Internet to mobilize people as effectively as a well-staffed interest group. But there is an equally clear problem: Most government bodies, including Congress, have rules barring elected officials from using public funds for lobbying.
But within those limits, a few legislators have given the concept a try. One of the first examples was Senator John Ashcroft's online petition for a term limits bill in 1996. The Missouri Republican collected 7,100 signatures in the two weeks before the vote.
"The Senator was able to go to the Senate floor during debate and say, 'I have 7,100 people who support term limits,'" said Chuck DeFeo, technology adviser for Ashcroft's office. "The whole idea of the Internet is opening up debate to the voice of the people."
Gov. Jesse Ventura of Minnesota, who made the Internet an important part of his run for office, follows the lobbying rules by making his online calls for support through an outside volunteer committee, made up of core supporters from the campaign.
More politicians are using the Internet to push their policies. But, for now the government remains behind the curve. The committee sent out an e-mail this week that did not mince words. Using language more common to the professional wrestling world that Venture came from, it asked supporters to pressure the Minnesota Legislature to support the Governor's proposals.
The Web sites from Armey and Gephardt are a part of the official House Web server, so while they present information on bills, they do not take the next step and goad people to call their Congressmen.
Armey's staff maintains a site for the Office of the House Majority Leader in addition to his own Congressional site. The site has a catchy address, "freedom.gov," and, instead of the big pictures and biographical information that are typical on Congressional Web sites, it is devoted to Armey's policy agenda.
This week's features include a poll called "Vote for the tax you find most annoying" a "tax season survival kit." The site gets steady traffic; about 140,000 people visited in January, according to Richard Diamond, the Congressman's press secretary.
"Instead of making it Dick Armey's face everywhere, we wanted to make it about policy," Diamond said. "It's very successful in getting the word out. Before, you had to be a Washington lobbyist to get stuff like that."
The office also runs an e-mail list that provides policy updates to about 10,000 subscribers. Armey promotes the site in radio interviews, and the e-mail updates help keep the Web traffic coming.
Gephardt's Democratic Leadership site, also on the House server, is also policy-oriented. The main theme is "Families First," with details on the Democrats' agenda in the areas of Social Security, education, the environment, the minimum wage and the national debt.
Ventura's supporters make more extensive use of e-mail. Political initiatives are posted on the Web site and sent out by e-mail to several thousand "JesseNet" subscribers. The latest e-mail, calling for action in a dispute between legislators and the Governor, gave this rationale for the online effort:
"Translation for state legislators: This political game playing is unacceptable. The citizens that elected Jesse and Mae don't want political games played out by career politicians. We want Jesse's straightforward approach to governing. In response to your demonstrated willingness to undermine the democratic process, we are rising to bring our grass roots powers to bear on the game players."
Political observers expect that after several years, more politicians will use the Internet to push their policies. For now, government remains behind the curve.
"A lot of people are still in the traditional mindset. They think, 'We've got to use a mailing to get the message across,'" said Diamond, who runs Armey's Web sites. "What they don't see is, e-mail is more effective, and it doesn't cost anything, and it reaches a targeted audience."
But clearly, he said, the decision by Congress a few months ago to release the Whitewater independent counsel's report online reflects a better understanding of the Internet among politicians in Washington.
"It's changing," Diamond said. "It's just a matter of time."
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These sites are not part of The New York Times on the Web, and The Times has no control over their content or availability.
Rebecca Fairley Raney at rfr@nytimes.com welcomes your comments and suggestions.
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