Virtually Kissing Babies?

Back in 1991, Jonah Seiger spent a summer canvassing voters in suburban Detroit, trying to drum up support for campaign-finance and auto- insurance reform. Occasionally he found a bit of interest; more often, surly homeowners sicced the family pooch on him.

Now the dog days of Seiger's political organizing are ancient history--rendered obsolete by the power of cyberspace. In a recent campaign against antiporn restrictions on the Internet, Seiger helped organize a massive grassroots lobbying effort from the comfort of his keyboard. The campaign flooded Capitol Hill with more than 20,000 calls, faxes, and E-mail messages on one December day alone. "The online world has already changed democracy," argues Seiger, an analyst with the Center for Democracy & Technology. Maybe--but despite the blitz, Seiger's side still lost.