Government Technology - August 2008 - (Page 20)

Many candidates create their own YouTube channel, such as Coleman’s Norm TV. colemanforsenate.com Well funded sites like Norm Coleman’s help voters quickly learn about a candidate, though there’s still no substitute for shaking hands and kissing babies. If you need up-to-the-minute candidate information, Coleman will send Norm Alerts to your mobile phone. Blogs continue to play a role in the modern candidate’s campaign and give potential voters another outlet to interact with the candidate. AUG_08 are a great way to interact with the people In Idaho’s 14th District, professor and who will be voting for you. The easier you attorney Saundra McDavid is running for make it for people to contribute, the more state Senate. McDavid once ran for mayor of likely they are to contribute. With credit Eagle, Idaho, but otherwise has no history as cards, if you give them that opportunity, an elected official. But she has a background more people will likely contribute than they in technology and runs her own technology would if they had to write a check.” As a technology consultant, McDavid consulting firm in Eagle. McDavid’s Web site is as polished as said she’s well aware that reaching younger any campaign site. Donations can be made voters means going beyond the scope of online via credit card and PayPal. Her blog traditional campaigning, which is why she is frequently updated. She has links to voter expanded her campaign to MySpace and registration forms and polling places. The Facebook. Initially these forays into social site links to all recent news items about networking haven’t generated much interher campaign and local news video reports. est — only one visitor to her site has become And McDavid has both a MySpace and a Facebook friend and no one has asked for friend status on MySpace as Facebook page. of press time. But McDavid is McDavid said the Web convinced her efforts to reach makes her campaign easier out to younger voters will pay for voters to access, in terms off with time. of learning about where she “The key to reaching the stands on issues and giving younger voters is to go online. people a simple way to conThat’s their world,” she said. tribute. “I have a lot of younger “It’s important for all politi- Even with a polished people contacting me that cians to get their issues across to Web site, some messages don’t resonate, as have said they viewed my site the people in their district,” she Idaho Senate candidate and like it. It was important said. “These types of Web tools Saundra McDavid discovered after coming in third in her race for ofﬁce. Idaho State Senate to me to get as much information out to the voters as possible, so that they can know me and make an informed decision. You’re not going to get from a flier in the mail the same kind of personal touch that you can get using the Web site, blogs and 2.0 technologies — where you are actually bringing your voters or people who are interested in hearing about you into your world.” The next step, McDavid said, is to post campaign videos on YouTube. The candidate hopes this will open more avenues for voters to connect with her campaign. “You definitely don’t want to give the message that you’re not interested in interacting with your constituents,” she said. “By allowing them to communicate with you [via the Web] it gives the impression that you are approachable and open-minded.” U.S. Senate, Minnesota It makes sense that the higher up the political food chain, the more resources campaigns have. But the Web helps to level the playing field. Even though Minnesotan Norm Coleman’s re-election bid for U.S. Senate includes a top-notch Web site, the candidate promi- 20 http://colemanforsenate.com http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - August 2008

Government Technology - August 2008 Contents Point of View The Last Mile Big Picture On the Scene Four Questions for... Net Gains A Government Technology® Industry Profile: CA CA Contents IT Network Management: State and Local Governments Face New Challenges MyFloridaNet Arkansas Department of Information Systems Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Government Tightens Its Belt Rocking the Vote High-Speed Portal Project On Track Wi-Fi on a Shoestring From Paintball to Video Virtually Vulnerable How It Works Products signal:noise

Government Technology - August 2008

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