Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas could conceivably have held their famous debates on line, but the most noted political dispute to date packed less punch. Like publishers, politicians learn that enthusiasm for the Internet's potential should be tempered by a dose of reality. An audio clip of Socks, the family cat. People say you can get position papers on the Internet. Well, you can also get Playboy on the Internet, and lots of other stuff.
Most people scamper off to the other stuff.
The on-line electorate is an activist lot. Both Gingrich and President Bill Clinton have unofficial sites alternately praising and condemning them. Anybody who ignores that will do so at their peril. Largely ignored by Foley's campaign staff, the site's negative material contributed to his surprising defeat during that year's midterm election, claims political consultant Frank L. Tobe, chairman of Applied Political Technologies in Santa Barbara, Calif., which lists the Virginia Democratic party among its clients. They're going to compete against it.