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In
the news
An interview with Andy Brack
Excerpted from Inter@ctive Week
Sept. 5, 2000
Full
Story
Andy
Brack is an Internet marketing executive running on the Democratic
ticket for South Carolina's 1st congressional district. He
spoke with Inter@ctive Week Contributing Writer Jordan Raphael
about his upcoming campaign.
Q:
Has the Internet's potential with regard to politics been
realized in Recent years?
With
politics on the Internet, I think we're still in a growing
stage. Not all political consultants completely get it. I
think they are seeing that things can be done, but it's still
kind of a new thing to them.
Q:
Why should political candidates campaign online?
In my
experience - and studies bear this out - if candidates don't
have a Web presence, they're not utilizing all the tools that
are available. The Internet has grown from an electronic yard
sign to an effective communications medium to generate grassroots
support among people who tend to agree with you. Of course,
we're still taking baby steps when it comes to persuading
undecided voters on voting for a particular candidate
Q:
Have you learned anything in the course of your current campaign?
It's
become clear to me that the most dynamic component for building
a constituency is e-mail. I send out very personal e-mails
once a week to a lot of people. Some campaigns send 10 mails
a day. Nobody wants that. But if you send out periodic communications
that aren't annoying, then people will find them interesting.
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