VOA常速英语2007年-Internet a Powerful Political Tool

By Jeffrey Young
Washington, D.C.
12 November 2007
 

While political campaigns in the United States have used the Internet since the 1990s, the importance of the Internet has grown dramatically in the current campaign for the White House.  In this segment of "How America Elects," VOA's Jeffrey Young looks at how candidates and their parties make strategic use of cyberspace¹.

If you are running for the White House in 2008, the place to be seen -- and to persuade a growing percentage of voters -- is the WorldWide Web.

Television changed the U.S. political landscape in the 1950s and 60s. Fifty years later, the Internet has greatly expanded how candidates communicate with voters.  And, vice² versa.

In the 2008 presidential race, when candidates make appearances and state their positions, video of that is posted to their campaign websites.

Unlike TV, that video can be seen on the Internet countless³ times for no additional candidate expense.

Campaigns also embrace the Internet because, on it messages go out to voters without commentators⁴ or others directly challenging what the candidate wants voters to hear.

The role of fundraising on the Internet also is huge. In fact, most campaign websites have a fundraising appeal as the first page Web users see.

And it's not just presidential candidates taking to the Internet. Candidates for statewide races such as the U.S. Senate have also embraced the Web for communications and the search for cash.

One of the big differences between TV and the Internet is that the Web allows for two-way communication between candidates and potential supporters.

While the Internet joins TV as a powerful campaign tool, it also can be a counterforce, as Benjamin Ginsberg at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. explains. "Television sort of shifted the balance of power in favor of the politicians. They could structure what you saw.  Well, the Internet to some extent shifts the balance of power back to individuals because they can film or take pictures of things politicians did not want them to see, and show them on YouTube," he says.

Professor Ginsberg and other observers say that the Internet's power as a political communications tool will continue to grow -- perhaps to the point where someday, elections themselves may be conducted with a click of a mouse.

1 cyberspace   

n.虚拟信息空间，网络空间，计算机化世界

参考例句：

• She travels in cyberspace by sending messages to friends around the world.她利用电子空间给世界各地的朋友们发送信件。
• The teens spend more time in cyberspace than in the real world of friends and family.青少年花费在电脑上的时间比他们和真正的朋友及家人在一起的时间要多。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

4 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》