*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** A lesson that was learned in the U.S., but not widely understood by more mainstream politicos until after the election was over, has broken through early in the UK. The questions are - now what can we learn about how to improve e-mail outreach/involvement efforts or that might be the next big lesson in the online campaigning arena? Thank you James Crabtree for point out this BBC article. Steven Clift Democracies Online From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/talking_politics/ newsid_1298000/1298697.stm (put on one line) Thursday, 26 April, 2001, 22:31 GMT 23:31 UK E-mail 'could win' key seats Mr Blair has taken internet lessons By BBC News Online's Ray Dunne E-mail could play a key role in deciding the winner of key marginal seats in the forthcoming general election, according to experts. Many MPs will be defending slender majorities when the country goes to the polls, widely expected in June. And analysts believe that some sitting MPs and many candidates would be well advised to use technology to help them into the House of Commons. Research by the Democracy Online Project after last year's US elections found that 40% of all US internet users regarded the internet as "important in providing them with information and helped them to decide how to vote". Even taking into account the lower penetration of the internet in the UK, analysts believe that around 10% of the population will use the internet to make up their minds. In areas with greater penetration the impact could be even higher. Winners and losers Some experts suggest that e-mail campaigning could mean the difference between winning and losing in some constituencies where only a few hundred votes could separate the leading candidates. They add that e-mail could be a very cost effective way of winning votes in an election that will be governed by strict limits on how much individual candidates and parties can spend. "E-mail is a much cheaper medium," says Dan Jellinek, director of Voxpolitics.com, a website that aims to encourage politicians to use the internet and email to engage voters. --- end of clip --- ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***
