Politics Moves Online

Book excerpt: The popularization of the Internet has shepherded a revolution in business and personal communication. But how has online technology been used in mainstream American politics? In Politics Moves Online, Michael Cornfield provides a comprehensive guide to how the Internet has been used in political campaigns. He shows, for example, how candidates such as George Bush and John McCain in 2000 —as well as political action committees and the media —struggled to figure out how to fit the Internet into their ongoing operations. Through a series of insightful cases, he examines how candidates use the Web as a campaign tool and as a fund-raising mechanism, and how voters use the Internet to gather information and become more knowledgeable voters. He finds that while many political pundits have argued that the Internet can be a revolutionary force in politics, citizens and politicians alike have yet to find innovative uses that go beyond conventional political operations.