As presidential election fever begins to pick up across the border, politicians have found a new way to reach voters: the Internet.
A recent story from the Internet News Service provided some Internet addresses people can use in the World Wide Web service to access important political details and make their lives more complete.
For example, contact the White House site for “information about the first family.” (Will the name of the Clintons’ cat be there?) People can also obtain White House documents and connections with federal departments and agencies.
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The Democratic National Committee is the first Web site for a major U.S. political party, according to INEWS. News releases, briefings and calendars of events are available.
Several senators, governors and other contenders for their positions have now joined the Internet election campaigning.
So why would politicians want to use computers to help them get elected?
According to INEWS: “The Web home pages allow candidates to use words plus audio and video presentations to get their record and views across to voters.”
Canadian politicians might study the success of the Americans and then consider similar experiments at election time or even just to reach their constituents on a day-to-day basis.
In some ways it would be useful to access, at your own convenience, details about your local MP, views on controversial topics, perhaps check the politician’s itinerary to see if a protest is appropriate that day at his/her office.
Will these web sites ever replace the need for reporters to cover election campaigns? No. Journalists can provide context, background, analysis and balance to election coverage.
Also, the number of voters who might have access to computers or to Internet is limited compared to the masses reachable through newspapers and broadcast.
