Date: Wed, 6 May 92 15:50:12 CDT From: Joe.Abernathy@HOUSTON.CHRON.COM(Joe Abernathy) Subject: File 6--Online Debate Article This article appeared in the Washington report of the Sunday, May 3, Houston Chronicle. Please send feedback and further developments to Joe.Abernathy@houston.chron.com (800) 735-3820 Hungry candidates might share a byte Computer-based electronic communities emerge as political constituency By JOE ABERNATHY Copyright 1992, Houston Chronicle A leading figure in computer communications is issuing a challenge this weekend for the major presidential candi dates to participate in the first national online political debate. And a spokesman for at least one presidential hopeful - Democratic front-runner Bill Clinton - said the candidate likely would accept the invitation. A spokeswoman for President Bush's campaign said no decisions will be made about any debates until after the primary season. Bush is expected to clinch the GOP nomination in state conventions this weekend in Maine and Wyoming. "But depending upon how it's organized, as we get closer to the general election, it may be something we will consider,'' said Darcy Campbell, the Bush spokeswoman. The debate would be a milestone in a year marked by firsts for a nascent electronic democracy movement. Empowered by the ability to quickly reach an audience estimated at 8 million to 15 million people, at little cost, organizers of this new political community envision the debate as a way to bring the major presidential candidates and media into potential personal contact with every citizen who owns a computer and a modem - the device that lets computers communicate via phone lines. Online activist Jim Warren's proposal for the debate is being distributed to the campaigns of Clinton, Bush and the other most prominent candidate - prospective independent H. Ross Perot, as well as to Democrat Jerry Brown, Republican Patrick Buchanan and Libertarian Andre Marrou. It calls for a panel of three reporters from major media outlets to communicate online with each candidate over the course of a week in a moderated newsgroup - an electronic roundtable set up for the purpose. A parallel, unmoderated newsgroup would allow direct discussion of the issues by everyone online, while the journalists on the panel would be required to accept proposed questions from the online audience. Jeff Eller, campaign spokesman for Clinton, the governor of Arkansas, said Clinton likely would participate. "I don't think that would be a problem at all,'' he said, adding that the campaign already has placed position papers and other information online. "Anything that brings more people into the system is a great idea.'' The Perot campaign did not respond to an interview request. The debate proposal is the latest development in a series of events drawing attention to the emergence of computer-based electronic communities as a political constituency. Notably, a proposal by Perot to organize electronic town meetings has set fire to an online grass roots movement to put him on the ballot as an independent. Democratic candidate Jerry Brown already has gone online for direct electronic give-and-take with potential supporters. In California and Alabama, a number of major candidates have signed agreements to enact legislation to protect civil liberties such as free speech and privacy regardless of whether they are exercised on paper, on computer networks, or in media yet to be envisioned. "This is the first time that 8 to 15 million people have been online out of all of history, and that suddenly provides a critical mass for political action,'' said Warren. "That provides an interesting constituency. "Secondly, the candidates who have any awareness of modern technology realize that this is an essentially free opportunity to reach millions of voters, in a manner unrestricted by cost or sound bite editing or interviewers' reinterpretations.'' Warren is a member of the board of directors of the software firm Autodesk; a columnist for MicroTimes; the founder of the Infoworld newspaper; founding host of the PBS series Computer Chronicles; and organizer of the First Conference on Computers, Freedom & Privacy, a seminal event in giving shape to the online political community. "National online interaction between citizens and their representatives by far will provide the most efficient and effective means of having legitimate representation and active citizen participation in the governmental process,'' he said, adding that this gives rise to a number of interesting considerations. "A large percentage of the people who are online are well educated, affluent citizens who are often leaders within their communities. I think there are too many people online for government to successfully suppress what is developing, this communication mechanism that is developing so rapidly. "One of its major advantages for legitimate candidates is that communications have to be long on information and short on useless emotional content ... which undoubtedly horrifies some politicians.'' Soaring sales of personal computers are likely to strengthen the new online electorate. Analysts say that 7 million personal computers were sold last year, bringing the number of home users to 20 million - plus 60 million in business. As many as 15 million people are linked on the global Internet computer network, with the number growing. The commercial service Prodigy now claims 1.5 million users, while CompuServe claims to reach 980,000, and GEnie around 600,000. Users of smaller scale community bulletin board systems represent a potentially even larger group, although it's hard to say where one begins and the next ends. Boardwatch magazine, which loosely monitors the field, estimates that there are several tens of thousands of such BBSs around the country. Each of them allows from a handful to several hundred personal computer users to call in and trade messages, computer software, and other information. Current issues often are hot topics, the most recent example being the Rodney King verdict in Los Angeles, which is prominent in online conversation just as it is dominating national news. In Washington, the chairman of the House Administrative Committee recently said that all House members will have, by next year, full interactive access to users of the Internet computer network, which is quickly eclipsing the academic and military worlds that gave birth to it. While the new online electorate is likely to bring change, it is not supplanting traditional methods. Instead, computer-based conferencing is adding a new dimension to the traditional process by which a grass roots candidate is drafted. Perot, who has not yet himself been spotted online, has become a beneficiary, as services such as the Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL) in San Francisco, the commercial Prodigy information service, and a "Perot for President'' bulletin board communicate strategy and rally potential supporters. As the best known computer link of writers, thinkers and activists, the WELL has become the online focus of the intellectual issues raised by the Perot movement. But the Prodigy service, with its broader presence among non-experts, has become the battle front, as Perot support ers frantically trade information on efforts to get his name placed on the ballots of all 50 states. One typical message recently posted to a Prodigy confer ence promoted a Perot rally in Houston. In Colorado, meanwhile, the new "Online for H. Ross Perot'' bulletin board may offer a measure of the breadth of support. "I want to send you $5,'' wrote Marjorie Darling, who is described as "about 80'' and got involved through Senior Net, an activity organized by Dave Hughes, an online activist who runs the Perot board. "We hear the third candidate has only been a spoiler' and can never, or has never made it running for president,'' wrote Darling. "But none of those has been 'Ross Perot, Business Man.' "You can make it!'' Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253