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net election: Tracking politics as it's practiced on the Web.

By the Numbers, Part 8

By Ronna Abramson
Posted Friday, Sept. 29, 2000, at 11:30 PM ET

Washington Post OnlineSlate, the Industry Standard, and washingtonpost.com join forces to examine the effect of the Internet on Campaign 2000.

With Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore in a dead heat just 39 days before Election Day, the presidential debates that begin next week are shaping up to play a major role in the tight race. Meanwhile, the clamor from third-party candidates excluded from the face-offs is growing louder. Here's how the story is unfolding online:

1. Number of online petitions to open up the debates to more than two candidates: 42. Greatest number of signatures gathered on a single online petition to open up the debates: 75,000, at Votenader.com

3. Number of people who have completed the Commission on Presidential Debates online pre-debate survey: 30,000

4. Number of Internet sponsors for the Commission on Presidential Debates Web site: 8

5. Value of in-kind contributions (software, hardware, staffing assistance) of Internet sponsors: between $6,000 and $1 million

6. Number of results in a search for "Gore" on the George W. Bush Web site: 250

7. Number of results in a search for "Bush" on Al Gore's Web site: 494

8. Number of links to George W. Bush's Web site from other sites: 7,010

9. Number of links to Al Gore's Web site from other sites: 4,950

10. Number of links to Ralph Nader's Web site from other sites: 1,810

11. Number of links to Pat Buchanan's Web site from other sites: 1,960

12. Most expensive item for sale at George W. Bush's online store: "W. 2000" silver cufflinks, $95 per pair

13. Most expensive item for sale at Al Gore's online store: XXLarge-XXXLarge Gore 2000 denim shirt, $48

14. Percentage of Americans online who are registered Republicans: 36.8

15. Percentage of Americans online who are registered Democrats: 27.9

16. Percentage of Americans online who are affiliated with other parties or are not registered with a party: 35.3

17. Web site with the largest percentage of registered Republican visitors: TheStreet.com, 45.3 percent

18. Web site with the largest percentage of registered Democratic visitors: Colonize.com, 37.2 percent

19. Percentage of total candidates (House, Senate, gubernatorial, and presidential) nationwide with Web sites: 56.6

20. Percentage of Republican candidates nationwide with Web sites: 71.9

21. Percentage of Democratic candidates nationwide with Web sites: 63.4

22. Percentage of third-party candidates nationwide with Web sites: 35.8

Sources:

1. Google.com search

2. Ralph Nader campaign

3. Commission on Presidential Debates

4. Commission on Presidential Debates

5. Commission on Presidential Debates

6. Georgewbush.com

7. Algore2000.com

8. Netelection.org (joint project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, the Center for Governmental Studies, and the Center for Public Integrity)

9. Netelection.org

10. Netelection.org

11. Netelection.org

12. Georgewbush.com

13. Algore2000.com

14. Media Metrix

15. Media Metrix

16. Media Metrix

17. Media Metrix

18. Media Metrix

19. Netelection.org

20. Netelection.org

21. Netelection.org

22. Netelection.org

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Ronna Abramson is an Industry Standard staff writer. This article is reprinted from the Industry Standard.
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