Election 2004: Howard Dean Profits from Web Campaign [Video]

Among Democrats during the fall run-up to the presidential primaries, Howard Dean won front-runner status for his fearless firebrand criticism of President Bush’s handling of the Iraq war. But even if the former Vermont governor fails to seize the Democratic nomination this summer, his use of the Internet has added a new rule for political campaigns: Make sure your candidate’s website drives supporters to meet each other?and to a “click to donate” button.

From April 1 to Sept. 30, Dean collected $11 million through Internet donations, including 110,786 online donations (totaling $7.4 million) in the third quarter alone. Put another way: During that time, 50 cents of every dollar Dean collected came from people giving via his website, www.dean foramerica.com.

Those Internet donations have helped Dean lead in the fund-raising race among the nine Democratic candidates, and prompted him in November to bypass public financing of his campaign and the …