Cyber Beat

Political Campaign Sites And Commercialization Of The Internet

So, you thought you found a place to get away from it all; a place where you thought you could spend some quiet time away from the hustle and bustle of civilization, or even a place for quiet entertainment in the refuge of your home. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but "it" has found you anyway. It was bound to start happening, but it seems that it is sooner than we both expected. The "it" I am referring to is to politics on the internet and the commercialization of the internet itself.

Indeed, it has begun. Many internet addresses already contain advertisements by companies who sponsor an internet site in exchange for the placement of an advertisement of a product or service, including this site. What hasn't been seen much, if at all, however, is political campaigns and advertisements linked to an internet site. But I recently found a campaign site on the internet and I must say that I was actually surprised to find it. Usually when I think of politics and political campaigns, I think of the candidates who run for local, state or federal legislative or executive positions. But, the first campaign site that I found was a site for a candidate for a judicial post in California. Judge Thomas Spielbauer (Magana), a candidate for Superior Court Judge in San Jose, California. (http://www.spielbauer.com) Mr. Spielbauer's site, at this time, contains information about his community involvement, people or organizations that have endorsed his candidacy, a statement of his philosophy of the direction the legal system should take in California, and a small vitae of his experience as a lawyer in private practice and at the Office of the Public Defender in Santa Clara, California. Although his site does not sling tomatoes at his opponent, he does attempt to give the impression that if he is elected for the Superior Court position, it will result in a win-win situation for him and his opponent. You see, if he is elected to the Superior Court, his opponent would remain a Commissioner on the bench of the court. If his opponent is elected on the other hand, his campaign, at this time, was for naught as far as obtaining a position on the bench is concerned.

All things considered, however, compared to what has been shown in television advertisements for candidates seeking political offices, this site is very temperate. What I find most interesting about the site being on the internet is that I had to search for the site. It was not interlaced between segments of late night television shows where, unless I left the room, or changed the channel, I was forced to watch. I visited the site at my own choosing. Whatever Mr. Spielbauer has to say, it is up to me as to whether I want to visit his site and read about him, email him, or avoid him.

The internet is the perfect medium for education, entertainment, political thought and rhetoric or whatever else we wish to turn it into. As long as the commercialization of the internet does not result in a communication medium identical, or even remotely similar, to television, I believe even campaign advertising is acceptable. However, if we must spend fifteen to thirty seconds every five minutes watching a commercial for feminine hygiene products, male appendage support equipment or the spamming of political candidates, to support the internet, then we might as well stay with television and forget the internet ever existed.

The internet, as with television, provides us with a medium with which to educate and entertain ourselves. The difference, however, is that the internet does it with finesse. An interactive medium that extends far beyond what the television has provided us to date, the internet can perhaps be the mechanism to civic involvement once again. Think of the possibilities! Voting by internet. Census by internet. Opinion polls by internet. Vehicle registration by internet. Town meetings by internet. Direct citizen involvement and interaction via exchange of information through the internet. Fewer couch potatoes. More opportunity to become involved and to be heard. The opportunity for society to operate twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year. Just think of all the trees that will be saved once the newspapers and government paperwork are eliminated! Mind boggling, isn't it?

With commercialization of the internet, however, the public should demand that political candidates, as well as private companies, and individuals, take the opportunity to be much more creative in their advertising techniques and information exchanges. A little less dung flinging, and a little more substance. Force feeding the public with meaningless rhetoric, whether political or commercial, has not and will not improve society. Therefore, when a "new" communication medium, such as the internet, surfaces, we should take the opportunity to make a fresh start. Reevaluate how information is accessed, retrieved, categorized and displayed.

Finally, I must say to the Mr. Spielbauer's out there, since you are setting the political or commercial tone for the future, help lay new ground. Don't make us want to stand up at our computers and leave saying "been there, done that." Make us want to come back for more, not leave in disgust. I know I didn't spend $3400 on a computer to replicate what I had available to me with my $500 television. Give me something new!