Link to LI Politics.com

Above you will find banners that you can display on your blogs and websites to send visitors to LI Politics.com. Use the link: http://lipolitics.blogspot.com/

AIM ICONS

AIM Icons - Simple, easy instructions to install an AIM Icon

1. Right click on the icon you want, click save picture.
2. Click My AIM on your buddy list ( top left corner ). Go to edit options, then edit preferences.
3. Click on Buddy Icons
4. On the left-center of the screen, you'll see a button that says "Browse PC", click it.
5. Now go to the folder where you saved the icon, and open it. ( the icon should now appear in a small window to the left of the browse PC button.
6. Click apply ( bottom right corner of the screen ) and then ok.

Note: In order for an icon to be visible, both parties in an Instant Message must be on each other's buddy lists.

Long Island Press Article, 9/17/03

by Tim Boger

It's a digital rumor mill as potent as a high school grapevine. The main difference: the topic is politics rather than sex

Growing steadily since its creation in 2001, www.lipolitics.com has become both an independent venue for "the people" to voice their opinions and a thorn in the side of some elected officials. And while Long Island's broadest electronic political network and debate forum may not be taken seriously by some government leaders, nobody can deny its ability to break news before reporters do or remind voters why they should be angry with their elected officials.

In one post, from Oct. 11, 2002, an author identified as Kenny b says, "Frank Petrone—Huntington Supervisor—now a Democrat. Welcome to the Dem party, Frankie. Bring those donuts with you, would ya?" The official public announcement that Petrone switched parties would not be made for another week.

The cheeky message is one of more than 40,000 posts on one of the website's 11 message boards about politics on the Island. Although Anthony Manetta, the site's operator, spent "not a dime in advertising," the site has good word-of-mouth, and averages 2,200 visitors a day. That hasn't yet translated into profits for its founder.

Manetta, founder of Lindenhurst political consulting firm Roosevelt Strategies Group, realized the need for such a forum when he was working on campaigns for local politicians and found no place to debate local politics online. While a few local political parties have message boards of their own, none are as inclusive or widely used as lipolitics.com. "If you want your voice to be heard, that's the place to do it," says Manetta, who is 23 years old.

But if lipolitics.com has its fans, it also has its detractors, including many of the political figures who are often skewered in its posts. Manetta never checks the truth of posted messages. A policy notice warns visitors that lipolitics.com accepts no liability for inaccurate, racist, or slanderous messages—or anything else that might offend.

To be sure, the site offers more than just the message boards. There are links to every major and minor local political party, a list of upcoming events, contact information for every level of government, and various other resources, including interviews with politicians by Marty Shwartz, a former journalist and party leader.

But it's the Drudge Report-like boards, where rumor and passion fly high, that draw people in. According to Manetta, the most-talked-about politicians are Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, Nassau Legislator David Denenberg (D-Merrick), New York State Assemblyman Philip Ramos (D-Brentwood) and, at least up until now, Bill Cunningham, who just lost the Democratic primary for Suffolk County executive. Other hot topics include the Farmingville and Huntington illegal immigrant issue and Newsday's reporting.

Because most users post under pseudonyms, they can become especially uninhibited, although the site's operators do "try to keep the civility." Threatening language is automatically removed, as are messages that are reposted in every forum. If an elected official requests that a "thread," or series of posts on a topic, be removed because the information is inaccurate, the site will do so. But sometimes the damage is done.

Recently, several posts alleged that Ramos was facing trial for assault, a charge Ramos emphatically denies. "I haven't been in a fight since high school," he says. After following up on the posted rumor, the Press found that the case in question was in fact a slip-and-fall—a lawsuit filed by someone who had stumbled in Ramos' home. Ramos, a former Suffolk County police detective, says that while it is "freedom of expression that makes this country great," he suggests that the site is a "forum where people can put out misinformation and use [it] for political spin." Ramos says the last time he checked the site was when he was campaigning.

Nassau County headquarters One West Street recently made headlines for blocking lipolitics.com from the server, thus preventing employees from joining the anonymous political free-for-all. Nassau County Information Technology Commissioner Craig Love says the site was blocked because of foul language, not any political agenda, and that Suozzi himself had not requested the block. Suozzi declined to comment for this story.

Legislator Denenberg says, "I can't help what's said about me on that site. I simply don't go on or let people talk to me about it. There's no reason for it." He adds that while he has heard plenty of people talk about the content of the message boards—some of which was true, some not—people who post on the site "might be more than just political junkies." Some can be individuals with a political ax to grind, Denenberg says. He adds that while he never has and never will visit the site, he has been contacted several times by the press regarding information on lipolitics.com.

Reporters from various news sources have used tips found on the site. Both Newsday and Suffolk Life have quoted posts, or at least attributed information to lipolitics.com.

Manetta says he's been threatened on at least five occasions with lawsuits because of the lively political banter, but that none was ever actually filed. With names like WantaghDem, Joe Nassau, Machine Politician and Suzie Q, it can be hard to find out just who an individual poster is.

A user of the site since its early days, Kimberly Wilder—one of the few who use real names—says that the site "levels the playing field." The Babylon resident and board member of the executive committee of the Green Party of New York State describes the site as "the best grassroots device to promote free speech and dialogue about local government issues." She adds that she knows elected officials are watching the site, because when she bumps into them, they comment on her posts. Wilder says she also uses the site to try to round up support for issues or encourage activism.

Ultimately, anonymous messages should be taken with a grain of salt, and sometimes that means salty dialog. If nothing else, lipolitics.com is spicing up Long Island politics.

Newsday Feature 10/17/03

Politics, Election Info - and Rumors

By Dionne Searcey
STAFF WRITER

October 16, 2003

For the past two years, LIpolitics.com has offered area residents the ins and outs, and quite often the down and dirty, of local politics.

Now, the Web site's administrator is gearing up for the Nov. 4 election with candidate interviews, voter enrollment statistics and plans to post live election results.

"My main goal is to increase voter awareness and education," said Anthony Manetta, 23, who started the site after graduating from Dowling College in 2001.

Manetta's site currently offers everything from an in-depth interview with Massapequa Park Mayor James Altadonna on cell towers, to the phone number for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

But Manetta, a Republican, acknowledged that most people visit the site for the juicy, shockingly frank "rumor board." A sampling of recent postings include rants from overtaxed residents and discussions about the sexual preferences of certain Nassau Democrats. A recent rumor speculated that Democratic Suffolk county executive candidate Steve Levy lives with his mom. (For the record, he lives near her, not with her.)

Manetta of Lindenhurst said he tries to weed out the fabrications, but the task has proved too unwieldy. He recently hired Marty Schwartz of Massapequa Park, a Democrat, to monitor the board.

"We cannot get into the game of censoring or trying to determine for ourselves what's true or not true," Manetta said. "We're in the business to provide a forum so people can express their views in an unbiased fashion."

This free forum comes with a downside, he added. Sometimes he sees vicious rumors about people he knows and respects.

"When I see my friends on there getting attacked, I think, 'Why would I want to continue doing this?'" he said. "But if I close it down tomorrow, someone would be right there doing the same thing."

LI Pol in Newsday's Back Room 12/18/03

Jacobs' Internet Battle

Last week, some of Nassau County's political gossip-mongers started a message thread on the Web site LiPolitics.com titled, "Where is Jay Jacobs." They derided the leadership of Jacobs, the county's Democratic chairman, and the party's star, County Executive Thomas Suozzi, who has been embroiled in controversy over the spending habits and management failings of his former deputy for economic development.

"Jay Jacobs is the empty suit that occupies the chairmanship of the Nassau County Democratic Party," went one of the postings. "He was placed there by Herr Suozzi, and is Herr Suozzi's proxy."

Then Tuesday morning, a user under the name "quilmrt" castigated the anonymous writers as a "collection of malcontents" spouting "rumor, innuendo and half-truths." He signed off by saying, "I'm not afraid to let you know who this is: I'm Jay Jacobs. Now let's see how brave you all are."

In an interview yesterday, Jacobs acknowledged making the posting through the account of an employee at the summer camps he runs. His staffers advised him to ignore the criticism, but Jacobs said he had to respond.

"I just could not help myself. Sometimes there is such ridiculous stuff on there," Jacobs said.

LI Pol in the News: LIBN Article 12/26/03

Political Grapevine

by KEN SCHACHTER

For Anthony Manetta, the epiphany came while he was working on bank ledgers.

An accounting major at Dowling College, he also worked at WSD Tax & Accounting in Lindenhurst and planned on eventually becoming a certified public accountant.

The career path was simple, direct - and entirely out of character.

"I was sitting there doing a bank reconciliation and thinking, 'Oh, boy. I've got to get out of here. I need something more fast paced.' "

To Manetta, that meant politics.

Two years ago, just as he was graduating college, the long-time political junkie, now 23, started lipolitics.com, designed to capture the rough-and-tumble of regional politics and give him a career outlet far removed from balance sheets and cash-flow statements.

"I had done campaigns since I was 17," he said. "I was hanging signs on poles. I became a committee member of the Suffolk County Republican Party."

lists of officials, contact information, filings, enrollment statistics, message boards, events, interviews and a newly created listing of political jobs. On a recent day, Rep. Peter King was seeking unpaid interns for his Washington and Massapequa Park offices, Sen. Hillary Clinton was advertising for a paid intern, while Sen. Charles Schumer was looking for an administrative assistant for a fundraising office.

While much of the content involves reprinting news stories from Newsday and many Long Island local weeklies as well as original politician profiles, party insiders as well as reporters, often turn to the message boards.

One political operative, who asked to remain nameless, said the boards are a font of rumors and gossip, much of it unsubstantiated.

At times, when the rumor mill is working overtime, politicians will post messages to deflate speculation or defend themselves.

Manetta calls Long Island politics "a world of its own."

He said that visitors from other states who get a taste of the political scene are startled by the funding levels, the mud-slinging and "strange cross-endorsement deals between different political parties."

The message boards are hosted by Marty Schwartz, whose Schwartz Report is a promotional partner of lipolitics.com. Schwartz, a former Democratic Party leader in Massapequa Park, also provides leftward political ballast to balance Manetta's Republican leanings.

In any event, political labels have a way of getting lost in the heat of the moment, Manetta said.

"I've been called everything from a Democratic shill to a Suozzi [as in Democratic Nassau County Executive Tom] plant," he said. "I can't tell you how many titles people have given me."

Despite the epithets, Manetta remains firmly planted in the Republican camp and is seeking to use lipolitics.com, which remains in the red, to promote his paying job as a political consultant.

His big break came when "one day I got a call and got a chance to be campaign manager for a Joe Finley," Manetta said. Finley, a New York City firefighter, ran a shoestring campaign for the second-district congressional seat in 2002 and was trounced by incumbent Democratic Rep. Steve Israel. Manetta said he also served as Web strategy advisor to Ed Romaine, who lost to incoming Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, and Brookhaven Town Supervisor John J. LaValle.

Manetta promotes his political consulting business through links on the home page of lipolitics.com to electionvictory.com, the Internet unit of his Roosevelt Strategy Group.

Roosevelt Strategy Group offers Web site design and hosting, media-buying services and online fundraising tools for Republican candidates, political organizations, not-for-profits and small businesses.

Manetta said the success of Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean has focused attention on online fundraising. Dean, part of the splintered Democratic field, has surged to the lead in the key metric of raising cash and reportedly has said he plans to match President Bush's goal of raising $200 million during the primary season.

"Howard Dean took advantage of something that a lot of politicians don't realize - the power of the Internet and grassroots organizations," Manetta said. "The same thing with [Republican Senator] John McCain. In 24 hours, he raised over $1 million on the Internet. It's an e-mail program. It's getting into the press. It's promoting your Web site properly. It's viral marketing."

Manetta said Dean backers would convene online and designated leaders would set up in-person meetings.

"They took it from an online meeting and put it into real life," he said.

Though Dean's campaign has played out on a national stage, Manetta said you could "shrink it down to the state Senate level or the county board level."

What are the economics of lipolitics.com, itself?

Manetta said that the site gets more than 3,000 hits a day and it's the top listing on search engine Google for those who seek "Long Island politics."

But the costs of maintaining a site "just keep mounting up" and he said his goal for 2004, a presidential election year, is to stabilize the economics of lipolitics.com.

One option, he said, is to make it a non-for-profit site and seek grants. More likely, he said, will be to turn lipolitics.com into a paid site.

"Subscribers would be politicians, staff members, media and political junkies," he said. "It could really go places."

2003 Newsday Endorsements

Suffolk County Executive
Steve Levy
Suffolk County Legislative Endorsements
1st LD Mike Caracciolo	2nd LD Jay Schneiderman
3rd LD Carol Bissonette	4th LD Joseph Caracappa
5th LD Vivian Fisher	6th LD Andrew Tarantino
7th LD Brian Foley	8th LD William Lindsay
9th LD Ricardo Montano	10th LD Rodney Rodriguez
11th LD Angie Carpenter	12th LD Andrew Crecca
13th LD Lynne Nowick	14th LD David Bishop
15th LD Maxine Postal	16th LD Eric Sachs
17th LD Paul Tonna	18th LD Jon Cooper
Nassau County Legislative Endorsements
1st LD Kevan Abrahams	2nd LD Roger Corbin
3rd LD John Ciotti	4th LD Denise Ford
5th LD Joseph Scannell	6th LD Francis Becker Jr
7th LD Jeffrey Toback	8th LD Vincent Muscarella
9th LD Richard Nicolello	10th LD Lisanne Altmann
11th LD Craig Johnson	12th LD John Rennhack
13th LD Norma Gonsalves	14th LD David Mejias
15th LD John Clark	16th LD Judith Jacobs
17th LD Edward Mangano	18th LD Diane Yatauro
19th LD David Denenberg