• by Ross Fadner , January 28, 2004

While few would argue with the fact that the Internet has emerged as a viable political marketing tool--and if they did, one need only point to the grassroots success of the Dean For America campaign--the extent to which it will impact the 2004 presidential race has yet to be determined. According to a new survey by comScore Survey Solutions, political web sites will be a contributing factor in this year's battle for the White House.

The survey, "Attitudes and Intentions Toward Politically-Oriented Web Sites, Political Issues and Candidates," found that among people who visited political web sites--from GeorgeWBush.com, Democrats.com, and MoveOn.org--nearly one-fifth of survey respondents said that they were forced to re-examine their opinions. According to personal testimonies, web sites have changed their views on issues such as tax cuts and which candidate they plan to vote for in the November election.

Moreover, respondents claim that political web sites make them more interested and engaged in politics. Forty percent of site visitors report that political sites have increased their interest in learning more about the candidates and their views on key issues. Nearly 30 percent of visitors mentioned that the sites made them more involved in their support of the candidate of their choice through volunteering, donations, fund-raising, online chat rooms, and blogs.

Rob Klein, senior-VP, comScore Survey Solutions, and Graham Mudd, Analyst, comScore Networks, concur that as the proactive use of the Internet as a political communications tool grows, it could potentially revolutionize the way people assimilate political information.

"The Internet allows for a form of communication and community that didn't exist before, by fostering new levels of involvement," Klein says. "It allows for a two-way communication between people ... colleagues, friends, family."

Mudd adds that TV, radio, and newspapers, in particular, offer only one-way communication. "You can yell all you want at the television, but you won't get immediate feedback," Mudd says, "but the Internet is a multi-channel medium with so much information to read, watch, and listen to... you become physically, emotionally, actively engaged in what you're doing."

The Web has enabled candidates to mobilize and organize volunteers and, of course, to fund-raise. But the Dean campaign has gone a step further, according to Costas Panagoupoulos, executive director of the Political Campaign Management program, Department of Politics, New York University. "With [Howard] Dean in particular, we now see evidence of the Internet being used as a persuasive tool... Now the question is, is it more persuasive than other media?" Panagoupoulos believes that voters will look to the Web to substantiate or reinforce their political views, and often change them.

The Web may also become the great equalizer. "The cost of [running] political campaigns keeps lots of good potential candidates out of the contest. [Internet media] is not as costly as other forms of media," he adds. The Internet allows cash-poor candidates to gain an audience, attract funds, and to potentially launch a viable candidacy.

ComScore's Mudd adds: "Dean may not have been top of the list had it not been for the support he generated from his online efforts." The DeanforAmerica.com web site racked up 605,000 unique visitors during the month of December, according to comScore Media Metrix. GeorgeWBush.com attracted 503,000 unique visitors for the same period.