Predictions from only a year ago that the Web would supplant television this election season didn't pan out, but the Internet was still in the party.

Online media stayed in the wings during much of the campaign but took center stage during the finale, when television and newspapers fell victim to reporting glitches. Hungry for the latest news, Americans headed to cyberspace, causing some major media sites to buckle under heavy traffic. The last-minute rush for online election information stood in contrast to the campaign as a whole, however, in which the Web played only a minimal role. «There were high expectations for Election 2000,» said Jeff Stanger, a Web strategist for several Democratic congressional candidates. «Except in a few cases, it didn't materialize.» Candidates raised only a fraction of their overall campaign budgets online. They also reserved the majority of their advertising spending for traditional venues such as television. Voters largely stayed away from the Web for election news until the waning hours of the contest, when major news organizations prematurely called the neck-and-neck race in favor of Texas Gov. George W. Bush. While waiting for word on the Florida recount, traffic to candidate and news sites continued to spike in the days following the election, according to Net audience rating company Nielsen/NetRatings.