Election 2007: Big Loss for Blogging Candidates
posted on November 7th, 2007 in Uncategorized by Cara Michele
The 2007 Greensboro City Council candidates and the net:
Mayor: Yvonne: (web site) & Milton (web site and MySpace)
District 1: Dianne (blog) & Tonya (web site)
District 2: Goldie (no web presence) & Lance (no web presence)
District 3: Zack (web site) & Joe (web site w/blog)
District 4: Mike (no web presence) & David (MySpace) *David withdrew before the election; he’s now running for Congress.
District 5: Trudy (web site) & Sandy (blog)
At-large: Sandra (web site), Robbie (web site), Mary (no web presence), Marikay (blog), Kevin (blog), Bill (blog)
Only one of the six candidates with a blog (Dianne) won election, while three of the nine elected (Goldie, Mike, Mary) had no web presence at all. And none of those elected had a social networking site. Hmmm… So, is the web irrelevant for local pols?
November 7th, 2007 at 9:57 am
Goldie Wells does have a web site:
http://www.citizensforwells.org
We hope to update it and make it more interactive soon!
November 7th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
I think that transparency isn’t important. At least that’s what it tells me.
November 7th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Michele, I think you make a very good observation. I have really doubted that blogs are very helpful in winning elections– at least at the local level. Maybe in the future, but…
November 7th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Goldie’s web site (currently being updated)
http://www.citizensforwells.org
November 7th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
It doesn’t exactly bode well for getting more Council members to blog, does it?
November 8th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
I think our elected leaders have the duty and responsibility to be as transparent as possible. If we had more elected officials blogging and sharing their personal opinions, our county political system could function much better than it does today. Look at our school board, as I’m running for a school board seat next year, not one school board member has a blog…not one. It’s sad.
E.C. Huey
November 8th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
This was the first election where the candidates used web sites and blogs so I don’t think we can jump to any conclusions. I made phone calls for Joe Wilson’s campaign and told people about his blog site which not one person I talked to knew about. I also mentioned WE101 where they could see what other blogs were available and the topics. I believe the next election will see the internet having a greater impact. I also see the internet and blogs as the people’s highway to the truth since we darn well can not truest the MSM. More people will come to this belief also in time. BB
November 8th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Maybe the task for next time is to find more creative ways to drive voters to the web.