Internetopia

The presidential elections coming up in 2008 have already generated a huge amount of press coverage, in print and broadcast media. A new player is in the game this year, the Internet. In past years there were some half-hearted efforts to use the Internet, Howard Dean comes first to mind. But the previous efforts were pale and anemic things compared to what is out there for this campaign.

New media entities are coming into their own. It's not your daddy's political campaign anymore, not that it ever really was. Political campaigns have evolved over the years as technology has changed, giving political operatives new and more efficient ways to reach the public.

The telegraph made it possible to transmit speeches to people withing hours, instead of days. The telephone made it possible to organize impromptu gatherings and bolster get out the vote efforts in a much more targeted way. Radio and television changed how political messages were disseminated as well. It wasn't really that long ago that Dwight Eisenhower used the camera so well to win his first election.

Newspapers were often partisan, not only in their opinion pages but their hard news sections as well. The Lamar Democrat began life as a Democratic newspaper and still bears the stamp of its Democratic forebears as do at least 10 other Missouri newspapers.

Today Web sites and blogs have taken over as the partisan media of choice. It has not always been a smooth transition and there have been some outré examples, Howard Dean comes first to mind here as well. His ability to raise huge amounts of money online came to a screeching halt when video clips of him screeching were instantly available for repeated viewing. The Internet giveth and the Internet taketh away.

It doesn't matter what flavor of partisan you are, there is a Web site just made for your particular brand of politics. The problem with this is that it encourages a certain amount of isolationism from the rest of the public. Insiders reinforce each other's views and build walls against those whose views disagree. It encourages an "us against them" mentality that can be dangerous when taken too far. And it will be taken too far, you can be sure of that.

On the other hand the Internet has the potential to influence an opponent to change their mind, but only if used wisely. Telling someone they are an idiot and mentally deficient has never been a good way to get someone to come around to your way of thinking, even if it is so much easier than crafting a carefully thought out reply.

As the Bible says 'A soft answer turneth away wrath'. Using the powerful search capabilities of the Internet can help to bolster a well-thought out position with examples and make it easier to recruit people to your position. Wise politicians, their campaigns and those who share their beliefs would do well to consider how they intend to use this relatively new media.