Which Party Is Webbier?
The
Democratic
National Committee and the Republican National Committee , eternal rivals for
political dominance, are now battling for Web supremacy. Who's winning?
The
DNC beat the Republicans to the Web, erecting a site in June 1995. The RNC
countered just days later. The early sites were little more than electronic
brochures, posting propaganda but not soliciting much information in return.
Soon after launching, both began seeking online donations and sending
electronic newsletters.
The
DNC has settled on a more, well ... conservative approach than the RNC. During
the 1996 campaign, both parties conveyed their messages through downloadable
audio and video, but the DNC dropped its clips as a cost-saving measure after
it amassed a $17 million deficit. The Democrats also abandoned a 1996
experiment in providing Web access to party adherents.
Today's DNC site is effective but conventional. Voluminous position papers
detail the Democratic stance on every issue from affirmative action to welfare.
The (misnamed) AdWatch section meticulously debunks Republican commercials,
though it doesn't actually post clips to watch. The Democrats also recently
launched a Spanish-language mirror site. The DNC has embraced one trendy
Internet technology, opening an online store that allows Democratic
organizations around the country to buy campaign products in bulk. DNC Chairman
Joe Andrew says that the store proves "the Democratic Party is the party of
what's next."
The
DNC may be what's next, but the RNC is what's now. The RNC likes to boast that,
as RNC Deputy Chief of Staff Larry Purpuro puts it: "Al Gore may have invented
the Internet, but Republicans are really putting it to work." The RNC's
recently remodeled site has an "Online Activist" section that enables surfers
to simultaneously send an e-mail to 45 newspapers (a feature that the DNC
pioneered but eventually abandoned). Users can purchase elephant paperweights
in a cyberstore and send a friend a donation solicitation via an e-postcard.
And the site is loaded with GOPtv segments.
The
glitzy RNC site suffers from more technological glitches than the DNC's staid
enterprise. The video and audio clips load slowly. When I tried to view the
"GOP Environmental Accomplishments" page, I got error messages on five
successive days. The Republican policy info offered in the "Key Issues" section
is much sketchier than the DNC's position papers.
The
RNC site is more obviously partisan than its Democratic counterpart. The home
page is replete with unflattering photos of Al Gore, while the national
security area includes a Chinese espionage timetable and a summary of the Cox
report. (The presidential contenders, seeking swing surfers, neglect to mention
party affiliation on their Web sites. The parties don't return that neglect.
Both the DNC and RNC link to all the Web sites of major presidential candidates
from their parties.)
Republicans are preparing to invest $5 million in their Web operation, dubbed
e.GOP.They may open a satellite office in the heart of Silicon Valley. The most
dramatic RNC idea, however, is GOPnet, an Internet access business the RNC will
launch in January. GOPnet is a gambit to strengthen party identification and
loyalty, the electronic heir to the old party clubhouse. GOPnet will be an
"affinity service provider" and portal. The customized Internet entryway will
provide traditional news along with plenty of party propaganda. Subscribers
will get GOP e-mail addresses, and GOPnet chat rooms will wire Republicans
together. The party will pocket a portion of the monthly service fee.
DNC Chairman Andrew writes
off GOPnet as "a way to raise money." Even so, party officials concede that the
Democrats are planning to launch their own Internet access business, too.
