The road to the White House still rolls through Iowa and New Hampshire, but now it also races through cyberspace. For the first time, all the major presidential candidates are using the Internet to raise money, recruit supporters and shape their images.
Most candidates believe the Internet is a powerful gateway to prospective donors and voters.
In the 1996 presidential campaign, some candidates had Web sites, but they were essentially electronic billboards that were rarely updated. The use of the Internet as a political tool is still evolving, but all the major candidates, even those who haven't decided whether they're in the race to stay, have sites featuring their positions, invitations to volunteer and contribute and an array of features designed to draw Internet users in and keep them coming back. Besides the standard candidate biographies and photo scrapbooks of their appearances, some candidates are using nonpolitical features to hook Web surfers. Rep. John Kasich, R-Ohio, asks people to submit essays about their personal heroes. More than 1,000 people have written.