Campaign Trail Meets Cyber-Age

By JORDAN BLUM

Independent gubernatorial candidate Anthony “Tony G” Gentile of Mandeville says he would not have even bothered entering the race without his ability to start an Internet grassroots campaign.

Armed with a Web site, frequent posts on political message boards and more than 800 MySpace friends online, Gentile is relying heavily on the Internet for his long-shot gubernatorial bid.

A strong Internet presence is becoming a necessity for candidates, from Gentile to governor front-runner Bobby Jindal, the Republican congressman from Kenner, political analysts say.

That presence includes a home page, blogs (Web logs), online videos on YouTube, and the essential personal Web pages on social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

Such Web sites allow people to befriend each other, send each other messages and post photos and blogs. MySpace users can communicate with and learn more about other users by requesting them as friends.

“It’s an awesome tool for me,” Gentile said, noting that he interacts daily online with supporters and curious Louisiana residents.

“I can travel the whole state without going anywhere,” he said, without spending big money.

Kirby Goidel, director of the LSU Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs, said the Internet is an important tool for politicians, although they are still figuring out how to maximize the online potential.

“At least at this point, it would be hard to envision an Internet- only campaign,” Goidel said. “But it is becoming increasingly competitive with television and other venues.

“You wouldn’t want to have a campaign without a strong Internet presence,” he said.

Republican businessman and gubernatorial candidate John Georges, who is flirting with a party switch, said he is proud of his more than 2,500 MySpace “friends” – more than any other candidate in the race.

Georges said the online communication is great “virtual door knocking.”

“It’s really a way to have one-on-one conversations with people,” Georges said.

He uses the MySpace site, for instance, to show family pictures throughout the years, even some shots of him fishing shirtless.

Georges said he has tried to set the tone of the governor’s race online with Internet blogs about levee boards, insurance and school recovery.

Along with Jindal, Georges is the only gubernatorial candidate to have links on major sites to MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and the popular photo Web site Flickr.

Not only does Jindal have a strong presence on all of these sites, he also is posting frequent blogs and videos to keep supporters updated on his statewide bus tour.

“For us, it’s very important to get the Web site interaction truly involved in the campaign,” Jindal said. “People don’t want to just read, either. They want video feedback.”

His wife, Supriya, has sent out campaign e-mails in recent weeks.

When Jindal ran for governor four years ago, he said, the online campaigning was mostly “one way” with a basic Web site and e-mails.

“It’s so much more interactive now,” he said. “It helps us capture the intensity out there.”

Being so prominent in the race, Jindal knows there are sites, such as on Facebook, dedicated just to opposing him. But Jindal said there also are online support groups for him that started before Jindal even had the chance to start his own.

Major Democratic candidates such as state Sen. Walter Boasso of Arabi and Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell of Bossier Parish have Internet presences on several sites, too, but not to the extent of their rivals.

Other political races also are involved.

Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu has plenty of MySpace friends, but one of his top rivals, country star Sammy Kershaw, has a huge edge in the number of friends because of his additional music MySpace page.

Most of the 2008 presidential candidates also have plenty of online sites. Song parodies have been popularized on YouTube, such as “Hot 4 Hill” for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and “I Got a Crush on Obama” for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Political analyst Elliot Stonecipher of Shreveport said it is still questionable how broad an impact the Internet has. The Louisiana candidates’ sites mostly appeal to two groups: young people and political junkies, he said.

“It is fair to say the influence of the ‘Net is growing,” Stonecipher said. “But it has not yet been proven how much the Internet has really improved their sway.”

Although many people do not follow politics online, most of the political elite do, he said.

“The Internet is already demonstrably important because the opinion makers are looking at those Web sites,” Stonecipher said.

Goidel said there also are two key types of political information on the Internet.

Candidates have the information they can control on their Web sites and on MySpace and Facebook. But then there are the political bloggers and the politically slanted news collection Web sites that often bend the information to match their own biases, he said.

“It allows people to find sites that already agree with them,” Goidel said. “It’s pretty clear the blogosphere tilts to the right.”

It is safe to say, he said, the Internet’s potential still has a ways to go.

Originally published by CAPITOL NEWS BUREAU.

(c) 2007 Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.