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Clicking The Cornhusker Cybercampaigns "No Nebraska candidate's Web site approaches the sophistication of the presidential campaigns, but both Senate candidates are campaigning vigorously on the Internet," Omaha World-Herald reported October 10. In their increasingly tight battle for the open seat, both Democrat Ben Nelson and Republican Don Stenberg are making the most of the new medium. Stenberg's home page immediately opens a smaller window seeking donations, while Nelson offers "campaign gear" including Nelson 2000 baseball caps and T-shirts. (Tuesday October 10, 2000)

Uploading Slip-Ups The Gore campaign will devote a new portion of Gore's campaign website to attacking what it calls Bush's errors and mistakes on the campaign trail, AP reported October 10. The section has not yet launched. (Tuesday October 10, 2000)

Going Once, Going Twice, Going To Austria Over 6,000 Americans have flocked to VoteAuction.com, an Austria-based site, to commit a felony, Wired News reported late last month. The site, which began in the United States but was forced to shut down, allows users to sell their presidential votes. "The company claims in a press release that it can reach more potential customers and facilitate voter fraud without the intervention of an online middleman," Wired writes. (Sunday October 8, 2000)

Another Kind Of Political Gender Gap While women are now as likely to surf the Web as men, men are still more than twice as likely as women to use the Internet as their primary source for political information, Businessweek Online reported in September. Overall, 10% of men, but just 4% of women, rely on the Web for political news, chat, and direct communication with campaigns. (Sunday October 8, 2000)

Revolutionary Technology In an interview with Red Herring, Vice President Gore likened the embattled music-download website Napster with early democracy, Reuters reports. "Our democracy, our constitutional framework is really a kind of software for harnessing the creativity and political imagination for all of our people," said Gore. "Good decisions do not result from simply consuming data and spitting out conclusions. You would still want representatives to be chosen who have time to reflect and make considered judgments." (Sunday October 8, 2000)

GOPAC Goes Online The Republican political committee GOPAC is using a new medium to assist in traditional organizing. In late September, the committee hosted an online political training session via its website to educate local-level Republican activists on how to run their campaigns and get out the vote in November. GOPAC plans to offer more of the online seminars as the election nears. (Sunday October 1, 2000)

Different Directions Personalization or promotion? The Bush and Gore campaigns have different goals with their Web presences, leading to different approaches. The Bush site "allows for much more intense personalization, while the Gore site emphasizes the ability to create [linked] interest group Web sites," Bush senior communications adviser Tucker Eskew told Cox News. Gore's Internet guru Ben Green responds by saying Gore's site is about rallying supporters to action -- something Green says Bush's site does not do. (Sunday October 1, 2000)

Attack Of The Killer Websites Just when you thought it was safe to go online, it's getting mean in cyberspace, The Industry Standard reports, with negative sites abounding in the presidential campaign. Among the notables: the anti-Gore sites GoreWillSayAnything.com, GoreReinventionConvention.com, and Goreline.com, and the anti-Bush sites IKnowWhatYouDidInTexas.com, MillionairesForBush.com, and Bush-Cheney.net. (Sunday October 1, 2000)

Spam-paign 2000 George W. Bush may have the fatter address book, but Al Gore is putting more in his outgoing message queue. The Wall Street Journal reported on September 21 that Bush's press office sends messages to approximately 2,000 reporters and editors. The Gore team hits just 1,200 journalists by e-mail -- but sends items about twice as frequently. (Thursday September 21, 2000)

The Senator From The Great State Of Dotcom? Ex-RealNetworks executive Maria Cantwell, a former U.S. House member, won the Democratic nomination to take on Washington State's Republican incumbent senator, Slade Gorton, in a nonpartisan open primary on September 19. A September 8 Wired News feature dubbed Cantwell the "Ross Perot" of the dotcom world -- an angle that Gorton spokesperson Cynthia Bergman picked up on. "A lot of these dot-com millionaires need a hobby, and now they've got the money to do it, so, we'll roll the dice and see if [they] can win a seat in Congress. Maria Cantwell will be the poster child for that," Bergman said. (Thursday September 21, 2000)

W.'s Wired Whistle-Stop The Bush campaign is trying to get at least two million visitors to the Bush website to register for the campaign's eTrain e-mail update list. The reason: The Bush team expects low voter turnout, and believes that online viewers could be the difference. The campaign wants to use the list to get out the vote come November 7, noting that in 1960, a shift of just 41,000 votes in targeted states would have given Richard Nixon an electoral college victory over John F. Kennedy. (Thursday September 21, 2000)

It's Not Easy Being Mean Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Rep, Debbie Stabenow is finding it hard to be mean in her race against incumbent Republican Sen. Spence Abraham, Detroit News's Laura Berman wrote September 17. "Her effort to have a mean web page, DollarsandSpence.net, fails to personalize the attack in the cruelly effective manner of Abraham's" LiberalDebbie.com, Berman wrote. (Tuesday September 19, 2000)

Hagelin In (Cyber)Space The Natural Law Party ticket of John Hagelin and Nat Goldhaber has launched a fully renovated campaign website at www.hagelin.org. They've also launched a new slogan: 'Vote Outside The Box.' (Tuesday September 19, 2000)

Fleeing Before The Armey After the Associated Press reported September 17 that actor Alec Baldwin planned to emigrate from the United States if George W. Bush is elected president, House Majority Leader Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX) launched a poll on his campaign website asking visitors which celebrity they'd most like to see flee America if Bush wins, National Journal's Hotline reported September 19. The current favorite: talk show host Rosie O'Donnell. (Tuesday September 19, 2000)

Real Sites For Real Squatters... The cybersquatting campaign rolled on this week, with a Gore supporter not affiliated with the campaign seizing on Bush's new campaign slogan, "Real Plans for Real People." The domain name www.realplansforrealpeople.com was snatched up by Patrick West of Virginia… who redirects traffic to the official Gore/Lieberman campaign site. Meanwhile, www.buchananfoster.com was purchased by Mark Rendina of North Carolina, who redirects visitors seeking pro-life Pat Buchanan's website to the National Abortion Rights Action League's homepage. (Wednesday September 13, 2000)

Bush Hits The Bullseye With Netizens The latest Bullseye Poll taken by Democratic pollsters Global Strategy Group and Republican firm the polling company finds a slight split between Internet users and the general public on presidential preferences. While Bush and Gore are tied at 43% each among all voters, Bush leads Gore 45-40% among daily Internet users. Nader's support is 2% among all polled, but twice that -- 4% -- among daily surfers. Libertarian Harry Browne outpolled Buchanan among Net users, 1% to 0%. (Wednesday September 13, 2000)

...And Is RealNetworks A Real Issue? Webcasting firm RealNetworks became the center of attention in a debate between Washington State Democratic Senate primary rivals Maria Cantwell and Deborah Senn on September 8. Senn, who is running behind Cantwell in the race to be decided September 19, attacked Cantwell for her past vice presidency of RealNetworks, saying Cantwell's former employer 'designs software to invade people's privacy without their consent.' Cantwell dismissed the charge, saying, 'I know Deborah would like to run against RealNetworks. They are not running for the Senate.' (Wednesday September 13, 2000)

E-mail Bounces Back At Grams Aide The Minnesota Senate e-mail scandal continued last week, with the Anoka County Attorney's Office concluding that an e-mail account that was used to send anonymous and allegedly illegal attacks on Democratic Senate hopeful Michael Ciresi is linked to a telephone number and an Internet account owned by Christine Gunhus, a top aide to incumbent Republican Sen. Rod Grams, St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on September 8. The messages in question were sent from a Kinko's copy store rented terminal, but the account used was also accessed four times from Gunhus's home. Grams and Gunhus refused to comment. Meanwhile, Ciresi was knocked out of the race on September 12, finishing second to Mark Dayton in the Democratic primary. (Wednesday September 13, 2000)

Dot-Com Defeat Website designer Robert Asken, running as the "dot-com candidate" for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, fell a bit short of winning ballot access, Easton Express-Times reported September 5. Asken, who campaigned solely on the Internet via his site, www.dotcomsenator.com, conceded that while his unique campaign won him media attention, that didn't translate into ballot access signatures. Asken needed about 22,000 signatures to make the ballot… and fell 22,000 short, not receiving any names. However, he vowed to continue his experimental campaign as a write-in candidate, saying that his effort is "ahead of its time… like trying to start a car before the mechanic puts the battery in it." (Thursday September 7, 2000)

Websearch And Seizure? Computer equipment belonging to a top aide of Sen. Rob Grams (R-MN) was seized by the Anoka County Attorney's Office on August 30 as part of an ongoing investigation into charges than Grams's campaign illegally spread anonymous e-mail attacks about Michael Ciresi, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to oppose Grams this fall. The computer and "associated hardware and software" was taken from the aide's home, Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on September 1. (Thursday September 7, 2000)

High Tech Attack It starts like an old-fashioned attack ad, but at the end, the Virginia Democratic Party has added a new techno-twist. In a spot taking on former GOP Gov. George Allen, who is running for U.S. Senate, the Democrats show a teacher talking about Allen's education record. Nothing new there. But at the end, she invites viewers to visit www.theallenrecord.com, a site which lets visitors "delve into Allen's record on education," Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Democrats plan to add links "challenging Allen's record on transportation, the environment and other issues" as Election Day approaches, a spokesperson said. (Thursday September 7, 2000)

High-Tech Texan George W. Bush took to the cyber-airwaves August 30 in an interview with CNN's Candy Crowley that was broadcast live on CNN.com. The interview touched on traditional issues like school vouchers, negative campaigning, and the "debate debate," but was unique for its venue. (Friday September 1, 2000)

Labor Links Up The AFL-CIO has launched www.workingfamilies.com, a website that lets union members and supporters e-mail political leaders, read speeches by AFL-CIO leaders, and view video statements from the union's "Texas Truth Squad," which has been dogging George W. Bush on his labor record as governor of Texas, New York Times reported. Al Gore will appear on a live webcast on the site on Labor Day in an appeal to union voters. (Friday September 1, 2000)

Virtual Turnout Virtually Nonexistent The Committee for the Study of the American Electorate concludes in a new report that Internet voting has yet to increase voter participation. Arizona made headlines this spring when the state's Democrats held their presidential primary online, but the study found only 2.4% of eligible voters participated in the contest, compared with the average 9.5% turnout in Arizona primaries. Said study author Curtis Gans, Internet voting in 2000 was "not only not helpful to turnout, but" could be "dangerous to the integrity of our politics." (Friday September 1, 2000)

Free Gift For Gore Maryland college student David Jackson, who registered www.gorelieberman.com earlier this year on a lark, gave the domain name to the Gore/Lieberman campaign for free in August, Los Angeles Times reported. Jackson, an Orthodox Jew like Lieberman, had hoped Lieberman would make the ticket, and was so pleased that he handed over the URL -- which could have cost the Gore camp as much as $200,000 otherwise. (Monday August 28, 2000)

District-Level Disconnect A full 46 percent of U.S. House candidates do not have websites promoting their candidacies, a NetElection.org study has found. Candidates in noncompetitive races and incumbents are the least likely to have sites up, with challengers making more use of the Web. (Monday August 28, 2000)

Info, Not Influence The Net is a great place to learn about politics, but it isn't influencing decision-making yet, a University of California at Los Angeles study concludes. Nearly half of Internet users say the Net helps them understant politics better, but less than one-quarter feel the Net has given them a greater voice in government. (Monday August 28, 2000)

Bitter Voter Sells Bidder Vote A Maryland resident used the Internet to make a point about campaign finance reform. On August 15, a seller with the user name 'apragmatic' tried selling her or his vote to the highest bidder over the Internet auction site eBay. Apragmatic's ad read in part, 'Why should the American citizen be left out? Congressmen and senators regularly sell their votes to the highest bidder. Democracy for sale!' Maryland Assistant Attorney General Judith Arnold told CNN that selling one's vote violates Maryland state law. The auction was closed by eBay. (Thursday August 17, 2000)

Net Losses? Despite the hype, the Web has failed to transform convention coverage this year, AP reported on August 12. The most popular Internet news sites actually saw a drop in hits during the Republican National Convention, according to a report issued by the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy that day. 'Early evidence suggests that the online audience responded to the Republican National Convention like the rest of the electorate. Mostly, it stayed away,' the report concluded. (Thursday August 17, 2000)

Loose Planks Both major parties made an effort to insert Internet issue planks into their party platforms this year, but ignored many of the largest concerns of Net users, AP reported on August 14. While Democrats called for greater online privacy protection and Republicans called for an extension of the moratorium on Internet sales taxes, neither addressed larger issues of Internet governance. The Democrats ignored the tax matter entirely, while the Republicans called for businesses to respect privacy rather than insisting on government regulation. (Thursday August 17, 2000)

Democratic Squat Thrust Professional cybersquatters hoping to cash in on the veepstakes snatched most of them up right away, but at least one domain name featuring a vice presidential pick slipped through the cracks. Democrats bought www.bush-cheney.net even as Dick Cheney's selection to be the Republican vice presidential nominee was still being announced, and put up a site critical of Cheney's record. Democrats faced no similar problem: All the major permutations of Gore-Lieberman were cybersquatted or bought by the Gore campaign. (Thursday August 17, 2000)

You Can Call Me Al The GOP might not have squatted a Gore or a Lieberman site, but the Republican National Committee did grab AlandJoe.com and AlandJoe.org on August 7, a day before Al Gore formally selected Joseph Lieberman as his running mate, AP reported. The sites, registered by RNC Deputy Chief of Staff Larry Purpuro, join PhonyAlGore.com and BureaucratsForGore.com on the tally sheet of opposition-owned Gore sites. (Thursday August 17, 2000)

Ciresi Launches Cyberspots Mike Ciresi, a candidate for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party U.S. Senate nomination in Minnesota, launched a series of Internet-only video advertisements he calls 'webmercials' on his official campaign website in late July. Ciresi is campaigning in a hotly contested primary to be held in September. (Thursday August 17, 2000)

A Spam Slam? Ciresi made more Internet news in late July, when an e-mail message attacking him began to hit the inboxes of Minnesota Democratic activists, Slate reported on July 21. Rather than blame one of his primary rivals, Ciresi made news by accusing incumbent Sen. Rod Grams (R-MN), whom the Democratic primary winner will face, of the dirty deed, says Slate. Grams's campaign has denied the charges. (Thursday August 17, 2000)

The Medium Has A Message A Yahoo!/Yankelovich Partners poll taken in late July found that almost two-thirds of likely voters plan to use the Internet to do some research on their choices before Election Day, UPI reported. A full 65 percent of respondents said they believed the Internet would help them make an informed choice. A near-majority of 44 percent also said they use the Internet to keep up on the issues. (Thursday August 17, 2000)

Adding It Up The Federal Election Commission signed on to a study, to be carried out by nonprofit advocacy group Third Millennium, to study the impact of online political ads on voter behavior, Newsbytes reported on August 11. The study will recruit 40,000 users of the free Internet service Juno to see how they respond to particular political ads placed on Juno's site over a 10-week period. (Thursday August 17, 2000)

Ctrl-HATE-Delete The selection of Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), an Orthodox Jew, for vice president on the Democratic ticket led to a spate of anti-Jewish postings on Internet message boards, in Usenet newsgroups, and in chat rooms, CNN reported on August 8. Nearly 20,000 hateful messages were removed by America Online within 24 hours of the Lieberman choice. (Thursday August 17, 2000)