Politics are his passion and the Internet is his soapbox

Kenton Ngo adjusts his camera as Democrat Bruce Roemmelt gives his opening remarks during Thursday’s debate with Republican Del. Bob Marshall on the proposed marriage amendment in Manassas. (joe brier photos/special to the virginian-pilot)

By MIKE GRUSS
The Virginian-Pilot

ALEXANDRIA - Kenton Ngo is a policy wonk. He dissects election data using mapping software and reads transportation bills. He hosts a video podcast on his blog, one that draws as many as 2,000 readers a week.

Ngo is recognized at political rallies and has joined conference calls with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, but he has never voted in a primary or general election. He has never paid property taxes. He is not registered for Selective Service.

Ngo is 15 years old, has a driver's permit and braces, and is a member of the West Springfield High School debate team in Northern Virginia.

But through his blog, 750 Volts, Ngo has found an audience. He believes his blog and others will make a difference come election time.

Some say bloggers are insignificant because they are generally read by a small number of people, most of whom already know how they will vote.

Nearly 500,000 people have moved to Virginia since 2000, and many know little about the people who represent them, bloggers say.

Ngo's and other bloggers' strategy is to provide information that might not be found elsewhere and to give it their spin.

"When you're the only voice in a vacuum, you win," Ngo said.

Ngo's interest in politics was born of a third-grade assignment, reading the Boston Globe for stories about the 2000 presidential election.

In fall 2003, he volunteered for Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign. He "saw the Bush administration come in and didn't like it." Then he started a blog, one that primarily involved "cutting and pasting" from other sources.

By the end of 2004, as a 13-year-old, he realized there were only so many ways he could say he disliked the Bush administration. He started writing about Virginia politics. He took the name "750 Volts" from a sign he saw at a Metro stop in Washington. He asked his parents' permission for a domain name.

He became fascinated by the " droopy drawers" bill in the House of Delegates that sought to fine the wearers of loose pants that exposed underwear. He read up on a bill from Del. John Cosgrove about miscarriages. He scrounged for topics locally and focused on three Northern Virginia House districts.

The site's popularity grew. Twice, he sat in on Kaine's conference calls with bloggers. He attended political fundraisers.

"He goes to these things, and I think he still really believes these people," said Ben Tribbett, the blogger who runs the popular site Not Larry Sabato and occasionally provides a ride for Ngo. "He's not a cynic."

When Ngo arrived at this year's Shad Planking, an annual event for Virginia politicians, Tribbett said it was Ngo, not him, who was getting attention from Democrats and Republicans alike. While there, Ngo phoned in a podcast.

"I'm the kid with the blog, the kid with the maps, the kid with the video," he said. "The blog is me, and I am the blog."

Quentin Kidd, an associate professor at Christopher Newport University, said those who dismiss bloggers and the Internet do so at their own peril. He points to two of the most competitive races in Virginia this year.

Consider the Senate race between Jim Webb and George Allen. For weeks after Allen called a Webb campaign aide "Macaca," the video of the event was among the most viewed submissions on YouTube. The week the scandal flared, Ngo posted a picture of himself with S.R. Sidarth, the campaign tracker who was the target of Allen's comments.

Kidd also pointed to an attack ad from MoveOn.org, an Internet-based grass-roots organization that influenced the 2nd Congressional District race between Thelma Drake and Phil Kellam. It showed early on how contentious this race could become, Kidd said.

Additionally, the Chesapeake-based site Bearing Drift won both scrutiny and admiration this year after it was the first to post information about Kellam pleading guilty to, but never being convicted of, simple assault in 1978.

But what will it all mean come Nov. 7?

"I'm not really sure what effect blogs will have on the election, only that they have provided an additional wealth of information and insight where previously little existed," Jim Hoeft, Bearing Drift's chief contributor, wrote in an e-mail.

In the past week, Ngo planned to attend a speech tournament and agreed to canvass for candidates in Northern Virginia. He watched a debate about the marriage amendment, an event featuring Del. Bob Marshall, one of Virginia's most socially conservative members and one of Ngo's favorite targets.

"I expect to hear some more gems," Ngo wrote with sarcasm.

Administrators at his high school have not discussed the blog with him. His parents, he said, "don't try to censor it" and few of his classmates keep track because he rarely writes about high school.

"I have a couple of friends who read it," he said. "Or at least they say they do."

Ngo wants to pursue a career in law and said it's likely he'll run for public office. Ngo hopes to sharpen video presentations on the blog and continue fine-tuning his maps. He's hoping for a post-election bump to his site's traffic.

He has broader ambitions as well.

"I didn't get into Bob Marshall's district as much as I would have liked to," he said. "But I'm getting my license soon."