[Prev|Next|Home] 24 Hours of Democracy [24 Hours Home] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Peggy Rossing I'm sitting at 9:00 am on "President's Day" at my computer in New Hampshire where we have "36 hours of democracy" left before we can put it all away in boxes for another four years. This was supposed to be the year that the Internet changed the political process. Although the candidates and the media each unveiled web pages with lots of fanfare, and though the newsgroups were spammed with polemic on why Steve Forbes was god's gift to the republic, my read is that the Internet was not a player in the outcome of this year's New Hampshire primary. What I got from the Internet this time around was more convenient access to the same wire stories that get dropped on my doorstep and broadcast from the clock-radio every morning. I love news on demand, but it's not democracy. What I wanted from the Internet in this election was the stories from people who had met the candidates and could give me first-hand real life impressions. What I also wanted was someplace where I could ask Bob Dole how his wife's role in the White house would compare and contrast with that of Mrs. Clinton, or ask Pat Buchanan why, if he's so sympathetic to the plight of working Americans, he's so opposed to their efforts to organize? I put up a webpage about the New Hampshire primary. It's my first real web page, and it was fun to produce. I hope that by 2000, we can use the Internet to get answers from one another, not just the big money media sources. peggyr@prossing.mv.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Prev] [Home] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [This is a Blue Ribbon] [Utne Lens] This page was last updated on Thu, Feb 22, 1996 at 2:05:21. Thanks to the Utne Lens for donating server space for the 24 Hours of Democracy. Email Cafe Utne's Coordinator for the 24 Hours Project.