Democrats
      Bill Bradley, the former New Jersey senator and Gore's only rival for the nomination, was among the first to get online. His campaign site, at www.billbradley.com, features regularly-updated news on its front page, which carries photos of the candidate on the hustings and a sidebar (set against the blue field of an American flag) that leads to a volunteer form, an archive of press releases, and a message from and a biography of the candidate. Most unique is the prominent placement of financial reports: as the underdog, Bradley has made fair financing an issue, and has posted his campaign's finance reports online. The site does not offer an e-mail address or comment area, however. Bradley also offers an e-mail newsletter.
      Al Gore's site at www.algore2000.com fronts a photo of the vice president grinning broadly, beneath the Gore 2000 logo, complete with an animated shooting star. A brief message from Gore, and a summary of "My Vision For The 21st Century" are also featured. The front page has a poll question, "What is the most important issue facing the United States today?" But users cannot yet see how other visitors have voted. The site lets supporters download desktop bumper stickers that automatically update from time to time with the latest Gore news. Visitors can send Gore news to as many as 10 friends, and the technically-savvy can submit HTML source code to suggest alterations to the site. Most pages are interactive, and the site's privacy policy is posted. There is a "town hall" where Gore will answer selected questions, and a children's area with a quiz featuring questions on Gore's children and the Democratic Party (misspelled as the "Democractic Party" in one). Gore speeches dating back to 1998 are on the site, and press releases on endorsements. Gore's wife Tipper has a section of the site all her own, featuring photos of and by her. Algore2000.com has a Spanish-language mirror, and offers e-mail bulletins. The page also links to goregear.com, "an independent site run by a licensed and approved vendor of Gore 2000 campaign merchandise."

Republicans
      Lamar Alexander has been unofficially running for 2000 ever since his 1996 bid ended, and www.lamaralexander.com was held by his hibernating campaign for a long time before it was launched, with a message that the former Tennessee governor's site would be coming soon. Now, the Java-intensive site is up, but the front page has little on it. It features photos of Alexander, one with GOP icon Ronald Reagan, and a photo of Alexander in his trademark red plaid shirt from '96 (he has forsaken the look for his second try). The page leads to a series of short issue papers, a "Meet Governor Alexander" page that offers relatively little on Alexander's lengthy resume, a "What's New" page that currently leads only to unscientific online polls, and of course a contribution area. Alexander's site makes a real effort to win volunteers as well, and offers bumper stickers, yard signs, lapel buttons, and even autographed photos of Alexander. There is also a page of conservative and mainstream news sources.
      Gary Bauer's www.bauer2k.com beat Gore to the Web by just a few days. The site opens with a large but blurry photo of the social activist turned candidate. Visitors can read Bauer's bio, which is accompanied by a photo of "The Bauer family on vacation in Elk Canyon, Montana," some very brief issue statements, the monthly "Gary Bauer National Report," which covers endorsements and finances, and online volunteer forms. A "Scrapbook" link is not yet built, and the site does not specify what will be placed there.
      Pat Buchanan did not include his surname in his URL, www.gopatgo2000.org, instead adopting a chant born in his 1992 campaign. The site opens with the words, "Through triumph and tragedy... war and peace... he served the two most important Presidents of our time," alongside photos of Reagan and Richard Nixon. The site features lots of photos, often alongside policy statements that are just a sentence or two in length, and a prominently-played transcript of a Buchanan speech in a font that is hard to read. Supporters of Buchanan's two previous presidential runs are especially welcomed: "Welcome back to all of our dedicated Brigade members from Buchanan '96 and thank you for your letters of encouragement and requests to 're-up' in the Buchanan Brigade 2000," by joining an e-mail list. The site strongly urges users to link to unscientific online polls, and devotes an entire section to the results of such polls.
      George W. Bush's site, www.georgewbush.com, has a Spanish-language mirror, fitting the bilingual Governor of Texas. The site features archived webcasts of Bush events in an area called W.TV. Bush's bio delineates his vote totals among minority groups and names his pets, and is only slightly longer than the bio of his wife, Laura. Only a few press releases are to be found, the current one playing up Bush's very successful fundraising. Bush speeches from the campaign and from his governorship are online, and supporters can volunteer and make donations online. The lengthiest page on the frontrunner's site lists Bush's many supporters, including 13 fellow governors, six U.S. senators and a plethora of House members.
      Elizabeth Dole can be found at www.edole2000.org, opening with a quote from Dole, "The United States of America deserves a government worthy of its people," that fades in, bit by bit. The majority of the content is from Dole's exploratory committee launch on March 10 — which can be viewed in full in RealMedia — and does not seem to have changed much in the month since then. The front page also features a photo that shifts between a legal pad, a microphone, the Statue of Liberty, and an unidentifiable figure at a podium. There is no caption, and the image is not clickable. Dole's paean to her hometown, Salisbury, NC, and a loving soliloquy to both husband Bob and deceased dog Leader are featured. Users can also download many kinds on Dole 2000 desktop decorations. Users can send friends Dole e-postcards with pre-written boilerplate lacking a means of personalization.
      Steve Forbes announced online at www.forbes2000.com, and the site is still the key to his campaign. With the slogan "He Wants You To Win," Forbes fronts news items updated daily, video streams, a very detailed policy agenda, and even a search engine. The site offers many desktop decorations, seven unique e-postcards, and grassroots "e-Precincts" where cybervolunteers can set up their own homepages to recruit. E-Precinct leaders can also "compete with other e-Precinct leaders for national recognition, awards and prizes." Forbes offers e-mail alerts, including once-daily and once-weekly options for supporters with overloaded inboxes.
      John Kasich has vowed to run an Internet campaign, but the Ohio congressman's www.k2k.org has little available. The site opens with a dozen boxes in a 4-by-3 grid, most containing fuzzy images, but only three of them are clickable, and two lead to the same page. The remaining box is an index leading to complete biographies of Kasich, wife Karen, and their dog, an up-to-date campaign event schedule, volunteer forms and e-mail lists, and an area where visitors can submit their answer to the question, "Who's Your Hero?" Seven essays are posted in response.
      Alan Keyes has yet to announce a second presidential bid, but his www.keyes2000.org, which has been online for almost a year, leaves little doubt of his intentions. The rather overwhelming page lists links to just about everything Keyes has said or written, and also links to unscientific online polls, where Keyes is doing well. Supporters can get bumper stickers and more — if they're willing to pay at the Keyes 2000 Store.
      John McCain's www.mccainforpresident.org opens with a splash page with a small campaign logo in the center. Visitors can subscribe to an e-mail alert right away, as a submission box appears atop the main page. The most recent news on the Arizona senator appears alongside McCain's photo. Most of the pages play up McCain's background as a leader and a maverick, and the campaign even says it will send copies of a flattering A&E Biography episode about McCain to those who ask.
      Dan Quayle's www.quayle.org offers recent news items, and "Today's Schedule" (which on Wednesday advised only "No public events are scheduled for today. Private campaign schedule.") Some of the former vice president's speeches and newspaper op-ed pieces are on the site, and "Recent Events" lists older news. But the items are not archived; the campaign simply lists the headlines and just a line or two all in one long page. The page promises campaign finance information, but rather than having it on-site redirects to the FEC, saying only, "All campaign finance information required of Quayle 2000 is filed in a timely manner with this federal agency."
      Bob Smith's page, with the odd header "2000 United States Presidential Election — Senator Bob Smith for President Homepage," is at www.smithforpresident.org. The page links to reprints of news items, some not properly formatted for the Web. The site also lets donors "buy stock" in Smith for $20, and features a graphic of a Smith stock "certificate." The page features a long Guestbook section, and while visitors can e-mail the campaign, the clickable e-mail address does not work.
—by Peter J.M. Orvetti