Date: Fri 29-Jan-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

iinfo-Brand-Jesse-Ventura

Full Text:

INTERNET INFO FOR REAL PEOPLE: Jesse Ventura in Lewinsky-Land

By Bob Brand

Through the magic of media saturation, many have learned a new household name

-- Jesse Ventura, the new governor of Minnesota. Running as a Reform Party

candidate, Ventura beat two of the state's best-known politicians, Hubert

Humphrey, III, and Norm Coleman. An analysis of this surprising upset reveals

the victory came with a small budget funding supplied in part by the sale of

T-shirts emblazoned with "Retaliate in '98, Jesse Ventura for Governor" and

assorted other geegaws. However, the most remarkable statistic is the very

high turnout of first-time voters.

Hitting The Right Buttons

Traditionally, winning public office relies heavily on party political

machinery, mobilizing a small, but dedicated army of loyalists capable of

turning out the vote. Additionally, the party provides important funding

needed for a mass media campaign broadcasting the candidate's message to build

a favorable image. With no major party backing to overcome seemingly

insurmountable obstacles, Ventura needed to leverage elements "outside the

box." The Internet provided Ventura with such a tool.

The public gets a glimpse into the effective workings of a campaign website

while surfing http://www.jesseventura.org/ established by Phil Madson in

February 1998 for the victorious Ventura. Some of the accomplishments: purpose

and policy were established, JesseNet recruited volunteers and kept them

informed of important campaign events, net fund-raising produced about a third

of the necessary funds, rumor control was enforced, volunteers provided low

cost manpower (needed for data entry and manning the State Fair Booth), and

utilization of a virtual campaign office.

This website presents a model for politicians, current and future, who attempt

to tap a growing base of net-savvy voters. Appalled by the current media

circus in Washington, future voters will turn to the Internet as a source of

information about political candidates. The Ventura site is arguably the best

site to emerge to date.

After the election, Ventura continues to use the Internet to streamline his

duties as governor. Already one supporter has a new website

(http://www.presidentventura.com/) designed to solicit a presidential campaign

bid. The site sports videos of the Ventura oath of office (also televised on

C-SPAN), inauguration speech, and a list of special guest attendees including

mega-star Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In addition, there is a Ventura webring that contains the same number of sites

(two so far) as the Al Gore2000 webring. This pseudo-barometer is particularly

telling. Gore, the techno-pointman for the Clinton Administration is the

odds-on favorite to become the candidate for the Democrats in 2000. In the

fickle world of politics, technology issues often cut both ways. Gore is

likely to become the dubious poster-boy for the inevitable train wreck, the

Federal Y2K Debacle.

Governor Forrest Gump

It comes as mild shock that the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) published an

article titled "Being There" written by Dianne Lynch. It characterized Ventura

as "Forrect Gump gone digital." Lynch analyzes Ventura's cyber-efforts as "And

truth is, Ventura's Net strategies were something less than innovative or

unusual." While the CSM piece may make for some entertaining reading, Lynch

dismisses the fact that this is the first time the public has witnessed a

concerted effort to effectively use the Internet as a vital link in an

integrated, low-cost, low-negativity campaign.

Frankly, both steadfast and potential voters seem fed up with political

slickness and "sound byte" campaigns. It would not be surprising to learn

American voters might embrace a Ventura style effort in the next nationwide

election. There is little doubt that the public will witness a heightened,

increasingly sophisticated use of the Net by candidates across the political

spectrum. Popularity of television continues in decline as cyberspace heads

toward mainstream acceptance.

To date, outside the Ventura efforts, there has been very little evidence that

the Internet has had a noticeable impact on the outcome of close elections.

The release of the Starr Report, the Linda Tripp Tapes, the Frank Sinatra FBI

files, and the availability of Viagra via net-prescription, all made possible

by the Internet, signal major changes are afoot. Stay tuned.

Keeping Up

Ventura's JesseNet weekly newsletter allows anyone with an e-mail address to

keep abreast of the activities of Minnesota's newest top official. So far,

over 5,000 people around the world have signed on. You can too at:

http://www.jesseventura.org/jessenet/jn_sign.htm

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://www.jesseventura.org/

http://www.presidentventura.com/

http://www.csmonitor.com/atcsmonitor/cybercoverage/media/p-media010599.html

(This is the 139th of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the

Internet. Next, Cable Internet Update is the subject on tap. Stay tuned. Until

next week, happy travels through cyberspace.

Previous issues of Internet Info for Real People can be found:

http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and suggestions to:

rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)