Candidates Weave Politics on the Web
By Jeff Tuttle
When David Sparks managed Olympia Snowe's first congressional campaign in 1978, he hardly could have imagined what lay ahead in the world of Maine politics. The cyberworld, that is. Now, at the helm of Republican David Emery's 2006 bid for governor, Sparks — like nearly every other major political operative this year — is hoping to harness the power of the Internet, which experts agree is quickly transforming the way campaigns organize, advertise and raise money.
"Any legitimate candidate in a statewide race is going to have a major presence on the Web." — Mark Brewer Univ. of Maine |
"It's like having rubber tires on a car compared to whatever they used to use on cars," Sparks said of the changes the Internet has brought to campaigns over the past decade.
Emery, a former congressman from St. George, already has launched his first online advertisement — a polished biographical ad from a Virginia agency featuring pictures of a younger Emery with Snowe and President Ronald Reagan.
Of course, Emery is not the only 2006 Blaine House hopeful with a Web site — a must in any major, modern campaign, experts say.
His two primary challengers, state Sens. Peter Mills of Cornville and Chandler Woodcock of Farmington, are also online as is incumbent Democratic Gov. John Baldacci and his primary opponent, Christopher Miller of Gray. So is Pat LaMarche of the Maine Green Independent Party as well as four of the eight independent candidates vying for the office.
"Any legitimate candidate in a statewide race is going to have a major presence on the Web," said Mark Brewer, a political scientist with the University of Maine.
Brewer cited a recent study which showed a doubling of the percentage of adult Americans who visited a candidate's Web site from the 1996 to the 2000 presidential campaigns.
One of that study's authors, Richard Davis of Brigham Young University in Utah, said the percentage of voters who spend time at a campaign's site likely has doubled again — to perhaps as high as 10 percent in the 2004 election.
