CAMPAIGNING LIKE IT'S 1995: Frank Jackson had a campaign kickoff rally yesterday. The Plain Dealer says he "outlined the general themes of his campaign: improving the schools, fostering economic development and job creation, reforming City Hall and increasing public safety."

I'm in favor of all these "themes", of course. As is the current mayor. As are Jim Draper and Robert Triozzi... and, I assume, Anthony Brown.

The question for the next six months is what they plan to do about any of these "themes" that's different from what's already being done. And why they're better able to get it done than the other candidates. And why it will make a big enough difference in our lives that voters should care.

If this city should have learned anything at all in the past twenty years, it's that high-sounding phraseology about schools, jobs and safety -- or entrepreneurship, or neighborhoods, or poverty, or [insert theme here] -- is, in itself, worthless. Dude, we know what the problems are. How exactly do you propose to solve them?

Twenty or even ten years ago, it was normal for citizens to wait for answers to these questions until the campaign mail started arriving, or we could get to a candidate's night. Candidates would spend the first few months of their campaigns looking for money and endorsements, building name recognition, and quietly testing specific issues and messages for later use.

But this is not ten years ago. It's 2005, and we have something called the World Wide Web. When a candidate says he's going to do something about an issue we care about, we don't say to ourselves: "That sounds good, I'll have to check him out some time." We say: "Where's his website?"

Frank Jackson first announced his candidacy in January. Where's his website?

Jim Draper announced two weeks ago. Where's his website?

Judge Triozzi announced at the beginning of this week. Where's his website?

Mayor Campbell doesn't have a campaign site either. But she does have a lot of specific issue and program stuff linked from the main page of www.city.cleveland.oh.us -- full texts of her last two State of the City speeches, for example, not to mention a lot of press releases. Indeed, the city website is pretty much the Mayor's personal homepage. Most mayors do the same thing... look at Philadelphia or Chicago. This doesn't make the practice right, of course -- but right or wrong, it means you can find reasonably current information about Campbell's positions and proposals on line.

Jackson, to his credit, hasn't treated the City Council website as his personal property. In its own way it's a better site than the Mayor's, if you're looking for easy access to useful information -- like how to reach your Councilman, who's on what committee, or what happened at the last Council meeting. But it isn't going to help a voter to figure out what Frank Jackson would do if he becomes mayor.

You may think it's a little early in the campaign season to expect the candidates to have Web presences, especially in Cleveland, where so many voters are on the wrong side of the digital divide. I suspect this is how the candidates and their managers see it.

If so, they're wrong. The rules have changed. There's recent survey data showing that nearly half of Cleveland adults are regular Internet users, and the percentages are much higher for those who are better educated and/or better off (i.e. likely voters). At least in part, this City election is going to be fought under the new Internet-driven rules: immediacy, transparency, interactivity, decentralized initiative. A campaign that launches without the capacity to put its press releases on line, or a public email address, doesn't demonstrate much aptitude for this new environment.

IMHO, there's a strong case to be made for the following proposition: In 2005, a person who can't demonstrate an excellent personal command of basic Internet applications is not qualified to be the mayor of a major city. It's just part of the job description for a 21st century leader.

The campaign is a job readiness test. And the exam is now in progress.
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