Internet politics

Second in a series

By N. Clark Judd

For presumptive City Council candidate Tony Cassino, picking a Web site was a $2,500 question.

With the Internet becoming increasingly pervasive in politics, local candidates are trying to figure out how much time - and money - to spend on it. Taking their cues from national campaigns, candidates gearing up for 2008 and 2009 races in the neighborhood are learning the Web in what will be the most wired campaign to date.

"I'm betting that it will be an important tool for everything," Mr. Cassino said, explaining his investment, "for research, for getting my positions out there, and for raising funds."

As with any new tool, there's a steep learning curve - and there are also complications, explained Jamin Sewell, City Councilman Oliver Koppell's counsel and another competitor in the same race. New election laws put into place this year, he said, make online campaigning trickier.

"There are a number of new compliance issues that make it costly" to collect donations online, he said.

"Transactions must be recorded in real time," he explained, while providers like the popular online payment system PayPal have a delay between when a transaction happens and when it's reported.

Mr. Sewell recently launched a campaign Web site that includes a run-down of his accomplishments, describes his platform and has a contribution form that donors can print out and mail in along with a check - but he says it might be too early to spend too much on the Internet.

"I'm not convinced that in this particular race, at this particular moment, that a campaign strategy that relies heavily on the Web is going to be that helpful," he said.

He and Helen Morik, who has yet to put up her Web site but intends to do so, are the cautious candidates when it comes to technology in the 2009 City Council campaign.