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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ig who wrote (7288)	9/9/2003 6:18:16 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793801

Everybody wants to get in on the Internet! Parties seek to emulate Dean's online success Fundraising ability may be hard to copy By Hans Nichols - The Hill Congressional Democrats are watching the success of Howard Dean's online fundraising phenomenon, hoping to replicate it in their own attempt to increase small-dollar donations. Although some Democratic lawmakers and strategists expressed enthusiasm that state and congressional committees could easily copy the former Vermont governor's online donor model, others adopted a more cautious tone. But even among Democrats who say Dean's online strategy does not lend itself to easy duplication at the congressional level, there are high hopes that Democrats, as Dean has proved. can compete in the hard-money world that is all the more important in a post-McCain-Feingold fundraising environment. They argue Dean's staunch opposition to President Bush's policies, coupled with a perception among Democratic activists that congressional Republicans are abusing their majority status, could open activists' checkbooks for thousands of small, unitemized donations. "Dean's online success has shown us that we've really been asleep on hard money for the last few years," a Democrat operative said. "We always thought that was Republican turf." Asked about the Dean model, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, "We have our plans to proceed for some online fundraising as well." "We have had a program, but certainly we will intensify it, and our small-donor program has been breaking all records for us," she continued. Democrats said they were enthusiastic about Dean's online effort because it shows that Democrats can compete with Republicans for small donors. "Everybody in politics had better learn from the Dean campaign and how they've used the Internet or else they are going to be left behind," said Simon Rosenberg, executive director of the New Democratic Network. "The real lesson of the Dean campaign is that people are willing to give money if they are fighting for a cause they believe in," Rosenberg added. "Regular people who give low dollar contributions want to do more than just give money, they want to be involved." Republicans have not overlooked Dean's success. They also are ramping up online fundraising, though they say they were already using the Internet to raise money in the last cycle. "We've been more aggressive this cycle at getting likeminded Republicans to sign up for our e-mails and are attempting to raise money from those likeminded Republicans," said Dan Allen, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). For example, when Miguel Estrada withdrew his nomination for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last week, the NRSC e-mailed its activists and solicited money. The numbers from that effort are not yet available but are expected to be impressive. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), former chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is among those skeptical Dean's plan can translate to the congressional level. "I don't think it will work; I don't think it's transferable. It's a one-of-a-kind thing with him," Kennedy told The Hill. ?He?s raising so much money because of his opposition to the war, and a lot of our people didn?t feel like the rest of us were strong enough on that, especially in the House,? he added. Some Republican consultants also were skeptical that Dean?s online success would work for the congressional committees. ?You have to have a personality to head it, like a John McCain, a George Bush or a Howard Dean,? said Craig Shirley, a Republican consultant. thehill.com