The Internet is, once again, not the solution. This familiar answer comes on the heels of a recent study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the Internet as a platform for political office seekers to win new voters.

"Campaigning Online," published September 2003 by Oxford Press, details the results of research on this topic conducted by two political science professors, Richard Davis of Brigham Young University and Bruce Bimber of the University of California-Santa Barbara.

Their research included questions about whether voters are influenced by what they see on the Internet and whether they go online to learn about issues and candidates who have been overlooked by mainstream media. The book investigates the return on heavy investment in online communication tools.

"With regard to politics, there was a presumption that the Internet would activate the inactive, interest the less interested and convert the undecided to a particular candidate," Davis said in a news release. "That hasn't panned out. Instead, the main use for this medium is for candidates to reach out and reinforce their supporters."

Davis, author of two previous books on the Internet and politics, said he believes that's what happened in 2000. He said he believes the same thing will happen in the 2004 presidential campaigns.

The study showed that during the 2000 presidential campaign, 69 percent of visitors to George W. Bush's Web site already supported the future president. Similarly, 63 percent of visitors to the Al Gore's Web site also already supported the then-vice president.

"Voters are using the Internet, as they use any other medium, to reinforce what they already believe," Davis said.

The idea seems to hold true for BYU students.

"Online campaigning is only effective in primaries and even then it affects the outcome in a minimal way," said Melissa Perritt, a political science major from Santa Monica, Calif. "The medium is too new and it reaches too few people to be widely effective. I think candidates will be disappointed with the results."

Jared Sine, an economics major from Salt Lake City, agrees.

"When I get on the Internet, I'm looking to learn more about something I already know, not change my belief system," he said.

According to the study, the most successful Web sites are those of candidates already heavily covered by the media.

"One of the most important lessons from our study for the 2004 campaigns has to do with the interdependence of new media and old media," Bimber said in the news release. "The Internet is not so much a way around old media as a compliment to it."

While the study shows that the Internet is not the most persuasive tool to reach audiences, Democrat Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont and a prospective candidate for the 2004 presidential election, has already made headlines with his large allocation of funds to online campaigning.