On Running on the Web

A Philadelphia university professor has started his 2006 campaign for senator and is relying heavily on blogs.

[Chuck] Pennacchio and his small, Web-savvy staff have been leaving footprints across dozens of blogs during the last month, hoping their Internet presence - combined with traditional campaigning - builds a loyal grassroots following to rival Casey's stranglehold on the establishment.

Even though the web is nothing solid--just a bunch of ones and zeros dashing from hub to hub on thin fiber-optic paths--people still seem inclined to use concrete imagery that suggests a more solid place is somewhere, out there. Of course, sometimes the detail doesn't seem to fit, even by the web's somewhat looser standards:

Curly-haired and low-key, Pennacchio offers himself as a citizen candidate with convictions, but not an ideologue. He favors gun control, abortion rights and a balanced-budget amendment. He opposes the death penalty, except in terrorism cases, and gay marriage. But he supports civil unions as a way to grant gay couples the same federal rights as married couples.

Though I don't get the connection between the kink in his hair and the plank in his platform, I'm sure Pennacchio must be glad for any description that might help potential voters to recognize him outside the web.

Oh, here's one more physical detail to ground the web for you, if you need it:

It [the Pennacchio campaign] hit Google with paid ad links, Internet yard signs of sorts that flash Casey's Web address in the right column when users search for "Chuck Pennacchio."

As much as language may succeed at recreating the physical world we live in, there is still one difference between the real and the ethereal: senate candidates would never pay to have real campaign signs put on real lawns!