Saturday, June 24, 2006

You Got A Website, But Can You Win?

With less than 2 months until the August 8th primary, I became curious about how many local legislative candidates have purely political websites up and running. Note to incumbents: No, your legislative homepage that every member gets doesn't count!

A campaign website can signal a candidate is serious and organized. Or maybe future political results will prove a campaign website isn't that important after all. Either way, this is what I found online:

Of the 16 Republicans running for the State House or State Senate in Springfield, just 4 have campaign websites I can find. They include:

Rep. Jim Viebrock of the 134th district, www.missourifirst.com
Candidate Dan Scott, running in the 137th district, http://electdanscott.com
Candidate Steve Helms, running in the 138th district, http://www.stevehelms.net
Rep. Bob Dixon of the 140th district, http://www.bobdixon.com

Of the 11 Democrats running for the State House or State Senate in Springfield, 9 have campaign websites I can find. They include:

Candidate Christopher Brown, running in the 134th district, http://electchristopherbrown.com
Candidate Nancy Hagan, running in the 135th district, http://electhagan.org
Candidate James Owen, running in the 136th district, http://electowen.com
Candidate Robert Brantley, running in the 137th district, http://robertbrantley.com
Candidate Charlie Norr, running in the 137th district, http://charlienorr.com
Candidate Richard Napieralski, running in the 137th district, http://137rep.blogspot.com/
Rep. Sara Lampe of the 138th district, http://saralampe.com
Candidate Jamie Schoolcraft, running in the 139th district, http://electschoolcraft.com
Candidate Doug Harpool, running in the 30th Senate district, http://harpool06.com

Democrats seem to be taking the power of the Internet more seriously, but maybe that's because they have to, being underdogs in most every race around. Maybe Republicans don't think they need sites for some of their safer seats.

Which sites are the best? Most substantive? Best Designed? What do you think?

Also, if there are candidates around the Ozarks with really impressive sites I haven't mentioned, be sure to let me know. More importantly, if there are any candidates around the Ozarks making a buzz in your area, and you think I should look into them more, let me know as well.

Happy surfing . . . but don't surf too long. This Internet is a powerful thing, but too much time on it and you'll lose touch with what's really going on out there on the ground.

After all, most voters probably won't go to any of these sites, including the one you are on right now.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

David-
You missed one of the best campaign sites for our area, ElectDanClemens.com.

Anonymous said...

Only Lampe and Harpool are using video to convey their message. That fact alone makes their sites the best. Though I wish Lampe would do more than post old campaign commercials.

Worst site: Jim Viebrock. There's a cheesy instrumental version of the theme song from a bad 1970s TV show. TERRIBLE.

Anonymous said...

I like Jamie Schoolcraft's web page, followed by Doug Harpool's and Dan Scott's. I don't like Nancy Hagan's web page. The colors are awful.

Anonymous said...

What about campaign blogs? Will you be covering those?

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I meant the *other* candidates' blogs and websites.

David Catanese said...

If you have a particular blog or website in mind, send it my way and I'll take a look.

Anonymous said...

Best site: Jamie Schoolcraft

Schoolcraft has the best design and the most information.

Worst site: Jim Viebrock

I just can't get past the cheesy music.

Rev Chris M Fluharty said...

In local races like state rep websites can never replace door to door. However, they help to get those educated voters that do soak up everything. I droped out of the race because of my cancer but I still get hits on my website for when I was running for the 137th.

Candidates to watch. Ron Day in the 137th. Unlike Dan Scott he really lives in the district. He is going door to door asking for votes not buying them by having John Twitty hold fundraisers for him. I hope 137th voters ignore Dan Scotts money and vote for someone who really cares about the 137th.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed Nancy Hagan's website. Rather unique and not the same colors as all the rest. Shows some orginality. Was informative and quite a resume.

Anonymous said...

Best website: Nancy Hagan and Sara Lampe. Worst website: Jim Viebrock. (Jim, sometimes less is more)

Anonymous said...

David, I noticed you posted this at 1:30 a.m. Do you ever sleep. This was interesting to pursue. In clicking on all the websites, I found websites worth checking out. Good to see candidates use this resourse. I felt like Jami Schoolcraft and Nancy Hagan's websites to be among the best.

Anonymous said...

To Dave's point (which I agree with). Websites are more about branding and can effect younger voters, but in the end, it is all about the ground game.

Anonymous said...

Where's Norma Champion's web page?