This is about taking a ride on an online time machine. Humor aside, the most fascinating part of the '96 elections for me was the campaigning of third-party candidates, foreshadowing what could be a positive change in the nature of American politics. I don't just mean the fracture in the great wall of Washington called Ross Perot , who employed millions of dollars to create his own personal magic. The political TV infomercial. Complete with charts and graphs and dire predictions.
Personality cults come and go.
But online campaigning by independents will last long after a millionaire's bankroll shrinks to the size of a microfilament and the admiring throngs return to the soaps and barstools. That's because it has proven itself to be cheap, immediate and reliable, capable of bringing an unprecedented amount of campaign information to anyone with a Net connection. Take, for example, the Natural Law Party . OK, so maybe you never heard of them. But their experience in this year's campaigns is an object lesson in wired democracy.