Couldn't agree more with Mr. L. I'd go further: the quid pro quo for the
priviledge of free access and "equal time" ought to be a commitment to be
present in online fora (bbs's and chats) for limited times, to respond to
voters' questions in a way that all are able to see, share and react.
Politicians ignore and misconstrue the internet (and its successors) at their
peril. If this *is* any hope for democratic institutions into the 21st
century, it begins here in cyberspace. The only "glue" holding us together
today (in Richard Neustadt's words) is the bland, insipid, uniform conventional
wisdom offered by today's monolithic news media. It is they that determine
what the "issues" are, shunt the political agenda into one or two sound
bit-able issues, and consequently impoverish political discourse.
It is precisely the monolithic media that distributed computing will destroy.
In the end, the only "glue" holding us together will be us.
Robert Kost
US Interactive
robert@usinteractive.com
http://www.usinteractive.com