DIGITAL SPIN:
Click-Through Consumerism
By Theta Pavis
Special to WHYY
There's one thing nearly every Republican delegate will do before they leave Philadelphia: shop for convention memorabilia.
Pins, hats, T-shirts, coffee mugs--whether they're buying gifts or shopping for themselves, memorabilia is hot. But delegates don't have to wait in long lines and worry about lugging the stuff home.
Instead, they can just log onto the RNC e-shop for some click-through consumerism. They can also go to GOP Shoppe.com -- the Republican Superstore.
Poking around in the Republican e-shop got me wondering, however, about whether or not delegates use such e-commerce sites.
At 22, Mark Dreiling is the youngest delegate from Nebraska (and surely one of the youngest, period) at the Republican National Convention.
A serious young man enrolled as an international affairs and political science major at the University of Nebraska, Dreiling told me he's constantly online and has rigged his computer -- which is next to his bed -- to wake him up with an alarm in the morning.
He watches DVDs on his PC, reads newspapers online, and manages his finances with the help of his computer. The one thing he doesn't do, though, is shop online.
Like a lot of Americans, Dreiling said he's uncomfortable about sending his credit card number over the Internet.
Lena McKay felt the same way. The 20-year-old alternate delegate from Connecticut had just plunked down $35 for a collector's set of convention pins, but said she wouldn't shop online.
"I'm too nervous about my credit card number being stolen," she said. McKay said she window shops online at her favorite stores, but then goes to the shop in person or calls to place an order.
"It's the old fashioned way, I guess," she said.
Surprisingly, the one delegate I found who said she frequently shops online was much older than Dreiling and McKay.
Barbara Coffin of New Hampshire has plenty of experience going online. Her son runs a company that produces Web content and networks for Internet advertising. Coffin said she's bought books, clothes and shoes online with no worries.
E-commerce of course brings up other issues, such as Internet taxation.
Dreiling had no idea what the Republican party platform says about Internet taxes (neither did anyone else I spoke to), but he's strongly opposed to it. The Internet, he said, "is the one place that's a safe haven from government taxation," and it should stay that way.
Another key online issue is privacy, and the RNC e-shop at least lays out exactly what it will do if you shop there.
"The 2000 Convention Shop collects information only as necessary for customer orders," the Web site says. "The 2000 Convention Shop may, from time to time, send e-mail to customers with product notices or to distribute information of interest to Republicans. The 2000 Convention Shop may also occasionally share customer data with reputable organizations in the best interest of the Republican cause."
Anyone who doesn't like that can click down to the part of the site entitled "Do Not Share."
Whether or not the delegates are an accurate gauge of consumers' readiness for the Internet, e-commerce is likely here to stay. Christina Jones is probably counting on that.
The president and founder of pcOrder.com, an online provider of electronic commerce solutions based in Austin, TX, Jones is slated to speak at the Republican convention on Wednesday night.
According to the RNC's Web site, Jones will explain how Governor Bush's formula of cutting taxes, encouraging investment, and reforming education are the right mix for success in the age of the new economy.
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