Political Heavyweights Join to Start ‘Grass-Roots’ Web Site

Several heavy-hitting Washington, D.C., political strategists are jumping aboard a new Silicon Valley political Web site designed to offer information to the public and give candidates a way to raise funds and campaign online.

Grassroots.com includes on its board of advisors John H. Sununu, former chief of staff for President Bush; former Clinton White House press secretary Mike McCurry; and Vice President Al Gore’s current media consultant, Robert Shrum, among others.

At a company kickoff in San Francisco on Wednesday, Sununu said the site will serve “not just the public getting access to political figures, but let the candidates and the elected policymakers know what the public really cares about.”

The Web site, https://www.grassroots.com, will launch next month. Users will be able to read news tailored to issues that interest them, sign electronic petitions registering their views, then volunteer time or money if they choose on issues or campaigns.

The site also hopes to provide contacts with government offices at the federal, state and local levels. “We want to build between citizens and their elected officials a bridge of trust that both can use to work to improve the democratic process,” said company president and chief operating officer Tim Dick, who helped develop the successful online World Pages.

Logging on to the site will be free, but Grassroots.com plans to make money by doing electronic direct mail, advertising and fund-raising for political campaigns, aimed at visitors to the site.

Aware of increasing concerns about online privacy, officials stress that users will be able to choose what information they want to provide about themselves and choose what, if anything, they want beamed their way from candidates or other clients.