Howard Dean Net campaign paying off

Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean raised more than $800,000 over the Internet on Monday, boosting his online fund raising to nearly $4 million this year. The former Vermont governor is leveraging the Internet earlier and more often than any other presidential candidate in history, posting a campaign blog, sending wireless updates, and helping supporters organize real-world meetings through the Meetup.com Web site.

The Internet savvy of the Dean campaign appears to be paying off. The Vermont doctor nabbed the top spot in a "primary" held last week by MoveOn.org, a Web site launched to fight impeachment efforts against Bill Clinton. Dean landed 43.8 percent of vote. But that was just shy of the 50 percent MoveOn.org required for endorsement.