That's a taste of a few of the tools available. Some firms are building all these capabilities into Web sites so anyone from a U.S. Senate candidate to a local neighborhood rabble-rouser who wants to fight Wal-Mart can go to the site, sign in and have available a wide array of political tools, everything needed to run a campaign or start a grassroots organization.

None of this, of course, can replace having a good candidate or a great cause. Good candidates will beat bad candidates, but a good candidate using the latest political tools will beat a good candidate doing things the old-fashioned way.

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Republican LaVarr Webb was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. He now is a political consultant and lobbyist. E-mail: lwebb@exoro.com. Democrat Frank Pignanelli is a Salt Lake attorney, lobbyist and political adviser. A former candidate for Salt Lake City mayor, Pignanelli served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as House minority leader. E-mail: frankp@xmission.com.