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Campaign war on web

By Jason Misner, Metroland West Media Group

News

Oct 08, 2008

Call it ‘cyber-mudslinging.’ And it has reared its controversial head in the Halton Riding federal campaign.

Over the past several weeks, Internet technology has worked its way into local campaigns, forcing candidates to denounce personal attacks.

Blogging — involving a website posting that contains one’s opinion on a subject — has proliferated unsubstantiated and outlandish accusations against Halton Liberal incumbent Garth Turner and Halton Conservative candidate Lisa Raitt.

Late last month, Turner was questioned by the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) — that had followed the Liberal candidate on the campaign trail — about an allegation his office staged a door-knocking scenario with the son of Turner’s campaign manager. Turner has denied any wrongdoing.

The video postings of Turner’s encounter at the door of this constituent and the CPAC interview are readily available online.

Last week, the Turner and Raitt camps issued strongly-worded news releases, condemning one another for highly-charged accusations posted on the Internet.

But online attacks and video ‘missteps’ — posted on popular sites like YouTube — have extended beyond the Halton borders, having affected the national campaign and garnering intense media attention.

A video showed a B. C. NDP candidate, who since has stepped down, stuffing a bunch of marijuana joints into his mouth and lighting all of them.

Another video showed a puffin pooping on the shoulder of Liberal party leader Stephane Dion in a Conservative ad. The defecating puffin was removed from the ad with a public apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

And recently, a video of Harper’s speech made in the House of Commons in 2003, supporting the sending of troops to Iraq, mimics a similar speech delivered by Australia’s president a couple of days earlier. The Liberal party, who showed the video to the media, has made an allegation of plagiarism.

While Turner and Raitt vehemently deny any involvement in blogs that have laid accusations against each other, the candidates believe the Internet is a great communication tool. The positives of the Internet outweigh the bad, they concluded.

“The Internet is a communication vehicle that is every bit as powerful and important as daily newspapers, radio and community newspapers...,” asserted Turner. “Unlike television, which is hard for local campaign (candidates) to access, the Internet is relatively easy access so it’s a very important communications tool.”

As for accusatory blogs or websites, Turner said he ignores them since people hide behind Internet service providers in order to remain anonymous.

“I’ve got a blog, it’s got my name on it, it’s got my phone member, my address. I’m proud of what’s there.”

The fallout of sketchy blogging or video postings of something happening a long time ago could mean fewer people seeking office, Turner suggested. “That changes everything for people in public life.”

Raitt said Internet access is popular in Halton.

“People have a lot of computers in their houses. Everybody seems to be able to interact with the Internet. It’s a key tool for sure, to get your message out,” she said.

“The Internet, the bad side, has to be about the foul language and the amount of hate you can see coming from websites. They’re anonymous, therefore they feel they have this cloak and they can say whatever the heck they want to say at anytime. The person posting the hate has no idea who is receiving it on the other end. If you’re going to say something (about) me, say it to my face.”

Raitt said everyone must be careful what he or she publishes on the web because it’s eternal.

“When you’re communicating with the public through the Internet, you have the responsibility to remember it’s there forever and you will be held accountable one day for whatever you say,” she said.

McMaster University political science professor Henry Jacek said people must be wary when they come across political blogs targeting a candidate.

There’s also the risk of such sites backfiring, he said.

“I’m skeptical that blogs and websites have a great deal of influence on the voters. I have a feeling people visiting them already have their minds made up.”

If the public is serious about better understanding where a candidate stands on issues, they should contact the particular candidate to hear the answer for themselves.

There’s at least one clear benefit from candidates hosting websites — the ability to collect online political donations, Jacek said. “That’s the major positive function for them.”

I think for high growth areas like Milton, particularly in new developments from builders like Mattamy, the internet is a key tool for us new home owners. I would hazard a guess that most of the residents in "new" Mattamy homes in Milton (I guess since they started building here) are younger people that either have no kids and are starting out or are young families. We grew up with the internet and for many of us the internet either became popularized when we were in schoold (high school or post-secondary) or in the early years of our career. As such, blogs and forums like this are important ways for us to connect, debate, and decide how we'll vote.

I think, especially in Milton, having seen the ugliness of the whole "Old Milton better than New Milton" crap (which was hilarious to those of us that grew up in New Milton long before those pups stopped pooping their pants), you just know that the Greater Internet f*** Theory has been proven and you have to keep it in mind while you read.

( http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/ )