The list – which helped Kerry break records for Democratic fund raising – may make a potential windfall for politicians seeking to raise contributions or a means to get their messages out.

"It could be a very powerful thing," Eli Pariser, the executive director of MoveOn.org's political action committee, told the Post. Pariser, whose group has its own e-mail list of 2.9 million addresses, added: "It is part of the way that online organizing is reshaping politics, because, as opposed to the boom-bust cycle of campaigns – where you build up all this grass-roots energy and then it dissipates – now you can keep them connected to you for cheap. It totally changes what it means to be a losing presidential candidate."

In other words, Kerry may have lost, but he didn't come away empty-handed.

Already former Governor Howard Dean has been tapping into his own 600,000-member e-mail list, built during his losing campaign for president.

Already Dean has used it to raise money for other candidates, and recently his organization, Democracy for America, raised $250,000 to help pay for the recount in Washington's gubernatorial contest. His spokeswoman told the Post those donations came from solicitations e-mailed to 600,000 of the group's supporters.

Kerry himself has dipped into his treasury of e-mail addresses.

The Post reports he sent out his first post-election e-mail last month, criticizing President Bush and urging supporters to sign a petition backing a legislative proposal to give health insurance to all children.

"This is the beginning of a second-term effort to hold the Bush administration accountable and to stand up and fight for our principles and our values," he wrote. "They want you to disappear; they are counting on that. I'm confident you will prove them wrong."

As valuable as they are, however, experts warn that the lists may not have lasting power.

"It's been my experience that, without a lot of work, the lists degrade pretty quickly," Nicco Mele, an Internet adviser to Dean's presidential campaign, told the Post. "Think how many people signed up in the heat of the presidential campaign who may be less interested now that it's over."

Moreover, the Post wrote, many of those supporters were less interested in Kerry than in defeating Bush.

Kerry spokesman Wade told the Post he does not know how many signed his boss's petition but added that Kerry plans to use his list to put more muscle behind his work in the Senate. "That's an army of people you can turn to, whether it's to lobby their Congress people, to lobby the moderate Republicans ... to deluge those offices with calls and e-mails," Wade said. "It's a grass-roots force."

In addition to Kerry's e-mail gold mine, other groups have their own stake. According to the Post, the Democratic National Committee has 4 million addresses, MoveOn.org boasts another 2.9 million, and America Coming Together, a liberal 527 organization, has 400,000.

Editor's note: