Politics

Virtual democracy

by Seth Gitell

A couple of Newton-based political consultants are preparing to join the likes of Vote.com's Dick Morris and Voter.com's Carl Bernstein online.

On July 4, Douglas Rubin and Karen Sharma will launch DemocracyToday.com. The site will poll registered voters on relevant issues and make their responses available to interested politicians. Unlike Vote.com and Voter.com, Rubin and Sharma's site will determine whether users are registered voters and will prevent them from voting in polls more than once.

The site will also make it easier for voters to contact a host of politicians on any issue. "You can already let Barney Frank know what you think if you know what his Web site is," says Rubin. "But if you wanted to send to four elected officials, you'd have to know their individual e-mail addresses. On our Web site, you can write one e-mail and click on four different elected officials and send it to them with one click of the mouse."

DemocracyToday is designed more like a political consulting firm than a start-up Web site. The founders hope to charge politicians and advocacy groups a fee to allow them access to relevant voters. This access is what politicians and groups already try to get through legwork, mass mailings, and cold calls.

"I've been working on campaigns for 11 years and I've learned that politicians need feedback," says Rubin. "We've tried to do this on the phone and with mailings. The Internet is the easiest and most cost-effective way to do this -- especially when 70 percent of registered voters are online, as they are in Massachusetts."

Despite the bear market for dot-coms, Rubin says his Web site has a chance at success. "[Politicians] already go to community meetings. They already go knocking on doors. This is another way for them to find out what is on voters' minds."