Democrats promise to use Internet to its fullest

By Laura Meckler/Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Democrats are promising their convention will be the most Web-savvy gathering of its kind. Of course, Republicans promised the same, and the results drew some criticism.

"I think the Republicans talked a good game but I'm not sure they really delivered," said Phil Noble, president of Politics Online, a consulting firm.

His impressions are supported by an academic report released Sunday that found the party missing many opportunities to promote the Internet.

Democrats say they'll be different.

"We're going to deliver," promised Naz Nageer, director of technology for the Democratic National Convention, which begins here Monday.

Television viewers tuning into the convention coverage are likely to see what amount to well-placed billboards for the convention's Web site -- www.dems2000.com -- in both the convention hall and on the podium set aside for news conferences.

And once people check out the site, Democrats promise:

--Streaming gavel-to-gavel video of speakers on the podium.

--Four "be-here" cameras that take a 360 degree shot and let users decide what angle they want to see. Pseudopolitics.com has similar cameras that it features on its Web site.

--A "podium chat," where speakers will spend about 15 minutes after they've addressed the convention, taking questions from Internet users logged onto the site.

--"Dems Uncut," in which students will roam the convention with digital video cameras and produce "raw, gritty coverage" that will be posted on the site.

--Transcripts of speeches, after they are delivered, translated into several languages.

--Panels featuring prominent Democrats talking about issues, dubbed "Democracy Live," will be streamed over the site.

"The whole idea of the Web site is to draw people in with some content they can't find anywhere else," Nageer said.

That was also the Republicans' goal, but they came up short, concluded an analysis by Harvard University's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. Specifically:

--Signs throughout the arena advertised the "gopconvention.com" Web site, but the Republican planners did not put them where they were likely to be seen on TV, and there were no signs in the hall advertising Web sites for George W. Bush's campaign or the Republican National Committee.

--None of the major speakers directed people watching to check out a particular site. Bush mentioned the Internet only once in his speech -- in a joke about rival Al Gore having invented it.

--The party's nominees, Bush and Dick Cheney, never stopped by Internet Alley, where Web sites were operating.

--The Web site was not regularly updated. For instance, as delegates wrapped up their first session Monday afternoon, the site still said: "Once the convention begins this will be the place for up-to-the minute updates on what's happening."

--The convention encouraged Internet users to become "dot-com delegates," where they were promised inside information from the convention hall and special chat rooms. But the report found it wasn't effective because hardly anyone participated in these chats.

In the end, Republicans lost many opportunities, Noble concluded.

"Even if the Democrats just did what they are saying they will do," he said, "that's a lot more than the Republicans."

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