The new political slogan: "Log on. Click here."

While candidates in major races have used Web sites for years, challengers in small-scale campaigns are now posting their family pictures, biographies, platforms and phone numbers on the World Wide Web - hoping to persuade voters to their cause.

It's a trend that looks to affect the future of political campaigning.

"I think given the way technology affects everything, I think it will play a much more key role in campaigning and politics in general," said Republican State Party Executive Director Spencer Jenkins.

The reason is simple.

While a Web site may not translate into votes or cash - think of the pumped-up coffers of presidential candidate Howard Dean - it is a cheap, simple mechanism for making one's voice heard.

"I've used it to introduce myself, to give information about bills I've sponsored," said state Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake City. "Once you run for public office, I think you have an obligation to make yourself available. This is another way."

For Ken Larsen, gubernatorial candidate for the Personal Choice Party, that ability to "make yourself available" is important - especially as a member of a third party.

"The Internet is the great equalizer," said Larsen, who provides free Web space for some Personal Choice candidates at http://www. personalchoice.org.

"It's the way for us little people to make our message available."

That rings true for challengers in races that will never make a blip in the news pages, let alone a few seconds on the evening broadcasts.

Scott Bracken, a candidate for the District 2 City Council seat in the soon-to-be incorporated Cottonwood Heights, finds a Web site an efficient and cost-effective method for presenting information in a format accessible to many people.

"It's even more critical in smaller races that don't get the media coverage and exposure that candidates for larger populations receive," he said.

Statistics show that to be true.

Two years ago, a review by two university professors found about 60 percent of congressional, senatorial and gubernatorial candidates across the nation had an online presence. Nearly all of those sites included background information, stands on issues and information on making donations, according to the study called Candidate Web Presence in the 2002 U.S. Electoral Web Sphere.

That number likely has increased, and Steve Schneider, an associate professor of political science at the State University of New York and one of two educators who wrote the study, says it's now almost a requirement to have a Web site if you want to be a serious candidate.

"You can't run a campaign without a phone number, and now it's you can't run a campaign without an e-mail address," Schnieder says. "Increasingly, you can't run a campaign without a Web site."

While true, that can also turn into a "two-edged sword," said Utah County Republican Brad Daw, who is running for the House District 60 seat.

"I think [the Internet] is going to become more and more popular," Daw said. "I think more people are getting online, but it's a two-edged sword because anyone can put up a Web site and say whatever they want."

That's why Tab Uno, a Democrat candidate for the Utah House of Representatives, started his site.

"One of the biggest concerns I've had is the possibility of rumors and last-minute attacks," he said. "That started in the background of my mind last August or September."

While he's had little to worry about, Uno said his Web site, http://www.tabuno.info, is still a great tool.

"It just presents me in a different way than other candidates," he said. "It shows that I'm human, that I do get dog bites."

Other Utahns are taking advantage of that strategy, even though they are unsure of the impact it will have.

In the Salt Lake County Council District 4 race, Republican Mark Crockett says a site is necessary.

"It doesn't appear that people just happen upon political Web sites," he says. "But once they know about the campaign, some people say they appreciate the ready information."

Libertarian Chairman Fran Tully agrees, saying that his party provides candidates free Web space at http://www.lputah.org because it allows them to share individualized messages and detail their personal positions.

"I think that a lot of people are misinformed about what the Libertarian Party is all about," Tully said. "They think that everyone has exactly the same ideas - but not every candidate supports every position. [The Internet] allows individuals to clarify their position as opposed to the party's position."

The state Republican, Democrat and Green parties also provide low-cost or free Web space to candidates.

This is the first year the Republican Party has offered cheap Web space, something they anticipate 30 or 40 candidates to use as the Nov. 2 election draws near.

nwarburton@sltrib.com

tburr@sltrib.com