Programmer Crashes Race For President

Scott Chaney, a Nine Mile Falls computer software programmer, may have to create a virtual White House to win his Internet “campaign” for president.

Already calling himself “EPrez,” Chaney poses the question of “what would happen if some average joe, sitting on his front porch with a beatup old laptop and a good idea or two could use the Internet to become a viable candidate for president - in less than a month.”

Pigs may fly first, but Chaney’s ideas - some whimsical, some serious, almost all Republican - are available for everyone to review in a Web site at www.eprez.org. The site shouldn’t be confused with www.eprez.com, which showcases some other software entrepreneur’s ideas on how to use the Web.

The EPrez says the “crown jewel” of his campaign is his proposal to “defeat disease in this decade” with savings created by his proposed Department of Injustice and Inefficiency. He’s already advancing the cause by encouraging people to donate to charities such as the American Heart Association and the Cancer Research Institute instead of to political campaigns.

Chaney doesn’t need donations because he’s asking supporters to print out their own EPrez campaign signs. His travel costs are pretty virtual, too. Chaney’s idea of a whistlestop tour is to invite voters to come sip lemonade or hot chocolate on his porch - the real one, he says - if they make an appointment by e-mail.

EPrez Chaney says he tried at first to run anonymously, but realized he needed to “commit to it wholeheartedly and personally” if he expected to be taken seriously.

If voters don’t buy Chaney’s “vision worthy of America,” they may want to visit his commercial Web site. In real time, he is the author of several shareware programs, including a well-regarded system for hiding and encrypting computer files.