BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dave Hatter of Fort Wright with the web page he designed for Jim Bunning.
(Patrick Reddy photo)
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FORT WRIGHT -- Dave Hatter taps his right index finger on a mouse -- the computer navigational device, not the rodent -- and U.S. Rep. Jim Bunning's smiling mug slowly unfolds on the PC's screen.
"I need to redo this and make the photo a little sharper," Mr. Hatter says over the din of a Sesame Street episode emanating from the television in the basement of the Hatters' Fort Wright home.
So while 2-year-old Samuel Hatter, clad only in Spider Man underwear, follows the exploits of Cookie Monster, Mr. Hatter keeps his critical eye on the Web page he made for Mr. Bunning's U.S. Senate campaign.
"But overall," he says approvingly, "I think it looks pretty good. Better than some I've seen."
The Internet Web page is one of many the Park Hills native and Ludlow High School graduate has created for Northern Kentucky politicians, more and more of whom are taking their campaigns into cyberspace in yet another attempt to put their faces, ideas and names in front of the voters.
"I think in 10 years, if not sooner, every candidate at the very least will have an e-mail address, and most will have their own page" on the World Wide Web, said Mr. Hatter.
"It's just another way to communicate with voters, and that's really what political campaigns are all about, getting your message out there," he said.
A useful donation
Mr. Hatter, 29, an adept computer programmer and partner in a Cincinnati computer consultant firm called Definiti, made pages for a number of candidates who ran in the May 26 primary in Northern Kentucky. In addition to Mr. Bunning, a Southgate Republican, Mr. Hatter made pages for Congressional candidate Rick Robinson, Kenton County Fiscal Court candidates Adam Koenig and Nyoka Johnston and statehouse candidate Jon Draud.
A Republican active in local politics, Mr. Hatter donated most of his time as an in-kind political contribution. He said in most cases it would have cost the candidates from "several hundred to a few thousand" dollars depending on how simply or elaborately the pages are designed.
"I love my Web page because it gives me the opportunity to get my message, unfiltered, to people," said Mr. Koenig, a Villa Hills resident running against Kenton County Commissioner Steve Arlinghaus, a Fort Mitchell Democrat.
"And it's a pretty darn cheap way of getting your message out, and it's good because a Web page is very fluid. You can change it as much as you want, updating it with information about yourself or your campaign," he said.
Campbell County Fiscal Court candidate Terry Rasche, a Republican and former mayor of Woodlawn, was one of the first local candidates to put a page on the Web.
"I like it not only because it's a way to get information to the voters," said Mr. Rasche, who is running against Democratic incumbent Roland Vories of Newport, "but also because it's a way for voters to contact me through my e-mail address.
"I've been getting three or four e-mails a week. People who may not want to pick up the phone or write you a letter will e-mail you. And that's great, because it's another way to communicate with people."
Another plug
Mr. Rasche's page was created by Northern Kentucky University student Andrew Millar, a Fort Thomas resident and computer programmer. Like Mr. Hatter, Mr. Millar donated his services to Mr. Rasche's campaign.
Mr. Rasche has even turned his Web page into a plug for his campaign. He wears "Rasche.com" golf shirts and likes to point out that the Web page address is a play on "Rasche for commissioner."
"That's not a coincidence," Mr. Rasche said with a grin.
"Andrew (Millar) had a much longer (Web page) address for me when we started to put this together, but I asked him to make it with a "Rasche.com' so I could have a play on words with "commissioner.' "
Not everybody turns to a professional programmer or student to design a page.
Terri Wells, a member of Mr. Bunning's congressional staff, designed the Boone County Republican Party's page.
"It's just kind of a hobby," said Ms. Wells, a member of the party's executive committee. "And I studied commercial art in vocational school, so I just put the two together and worked on the page for a couple of months before I had it up and running."
The page includes information about party activities, Republican candidates and officials and links to political sites. There's even a computer link to the web page of Jim Collins, the Democrat running for Boone County judge-executive.
"I figured putting the link to Jim Collins' page was sort of a community service," she said.
Most of the pages candidates have put on the web include a short biography, news releases and news stories about the campaign, links to other political or government sites, and how to contribute to or volunteer on the campaign.
The actual impact of having a page, however, is still difficult to determine.
Mr. Hatter said the page he created for Mr. Robinson received about 3,400 hits.
"That's pretty good," Mr. Hatter said, "but that number will probably be double or more for a candidate in the next election cycle, when more people are on-line and familiar with reaching political candidates on the Web."
Mark Riddle is spokesman for Lexington Congressman Scotty Baesler, the Democrat running in the Senate race against Mr. Bunning. He said the Baesler campaign' Web site is a good use of technology, and it's great to disseminate information quickly.
"But I think mostly right now it's our supporters and reporters who are looking at it more than the regular voter," Mr. Riddle conceded. "I don't think the Internet is playing the important role right now in politics that it will in the future.
"You still can't beat good old-fashioned shaking hands when it comes to campaigning."
