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For all those Jesse Ventura buffs on DO-WIRE, I thought I'd let you know that he announced that he is not running for re-election for Minnesota Governor. Jesse for President? Watch for the media hype as they try to make things interesting. Our Governor candidates so far don't have much that is too exciting on the web: http://www.e-democracy.org/2002/governor.html But the Senate race (considered the top race that will likely determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate is humming online): http://www.e-democracy.org/2002/senate.html Republican challenger Norm Coleman <http://www.colemanforsenate.com/> was aggressive early with the collection of e-mail for their e-mail announcement list, but have used it more lightly than I would have expected. Incumbent Democrat Paul Wellstone <http://www.wellstone.org> known for his grass roots campaigning (in 1990 in particular) has one of the best volunteer sign-up systems I have seen to date and is updating content almost daily. My prediction - the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota will be the race to watch in terms of the use of the Internet and the outcome of the election. Why? Minnesota has the highest voter turn-out in the country and it has the highest percentage of people online in the lower 48 at 63.5% (Alaska has 68%, Sweden with highest percentage of online citizens is at 65%). I believe that the Internet is used in everyday politics, community, and civic life in Minnesota _more deeply_ than just about anywhere in the world. (Although most of our political parties and most candidates are now lagging with their own online use and strategies.) While TV will still dominate, the Internet is clearing being used by the U.S. Senate campaigns for "command and control" and to organize, inform, and motivate their core supporters. (I continue to see little strength with the web in terms of persuading undecided voters, so cute web tricks don't impress me.) This can make a real difference in an extremely close race, like it did for Ventura in 1998. What campaigns are doing things better online than Coleman and Wellstone? Let me know: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Steven Clift Democracies Online Newswire http://www.e-democracy.org/do <- Join Here *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***
