Archive for October 24, 2004
Iowas Best Campaign Blogs
Iowa’s Best Campaign Blogs
by Linda Thieman
“The days of the static, boring political website are over.”—Andrew Smith
The
campaign blog is the wave of the future. Unlike a static website
which doesn’t move and rarely seems to change the look of the homepage,
a blog, short for “weblog,” is updated frequently with the most recent
entry on top. Many blogs allow for readers to post comments under
each entry, too, making the site more interactive than a standard
website.
This
year, Democracy for Iowa is awarding “Best Iowa Campaign Blog 2004” to
cutting-edge political blogs in three categories: Congressional,
Iowa Senate, and Iowa House.
Best Iowa Congressional Campaign Blog: Paul Johnson, candidate for Congress, District 4 (Central and Northeast Iowa)http://www.votejohnson.blogspot.com/
Covering
a district that encompasses 28 counties, the second-biggest district in
Iowa, is no easy task. A campaign blog seemed just the ticket for
Paul Johnson, running for Congress in Iowa’s district 4 (Central and
North Iowa.)
Kirk
Johnson, Paul’s nephew, signed on to run the blog. “A pillar of
Paul's campaign philosophy is accessibility,” says Kirk. “He
wants to hear from as many Iowans as possible from all points along the
spectrum. After all, in a democracy, the people are the
bosses. What better way for them to review Paul's qualifications
than through a blog?”
Blog
readers are able to post their questions for Paul on the Johnson
blog. Kirk then sits down with Paul once a week and records his
answers to the questions. The Johnson blog can claim other
innovations, too, including a video welcome message from the candidate,
downloadable radio and television commercials about the candidate,
links to student groups at colleges and universities throughout Iowa,
and regular posts from a variety of campaign staffers to bring the
campaign to life for readers.
Best Iowa Senate Campaign Blog: John Drury, candidate for Iowa Senate, District 6, North Iowahttp://druryforiowasenate.blogharbor.com/blog
What
really strikes one when reading the Drury for Iowa Senate campaign
blog, run by campaign chair Darrell Lewis of Clear Lake, is the sense
of community it provides. Updated several times daily, Lewis
provides messages from the candidate, John Drury of Swaledale, talking
points, and addresses for writing letters to the editor, while at the
same time the Drury campaign comes alive with photos and reports from
the campaign trail. Most significant, however, is the amount of
time Lewis appears to spend researching the record of Drury’s opponent,
incumbent Senator E. Thurman Gaskill, and making that information
available to the residents of the five-county sixth district
(Winnebago, Worth, Hancock, Franklin, and Cerro Gordo – excluding Mason
City and the surrounding area).
Lewis
has also made something of a name for himself as he attends to local
news, questioning in detail, for example, whether or not city and
county governments are reimbursed for expenses when national campaigns
come through town. “It is particularly gratifying,” says Lewis,
“that so many people use the Drury site as their daily source of
political events and a reality check on the spin they see and hear in
conventional print and electronic media.”
Ironically, Drury’s
opponent only set up his own website two short months ago.
Perhaps because of that, it is impossible to pull up the site when
doing web searches. Referral statistics from
the Drury campaign blog show that a significant number of people who do
web searches to find information about Gaskill actually end up at the
well-traveled Drury for Iowa Senate website.
Best Iowa House Campaign Blog: Andrew Smith, candidate for Iowa House, District 40, Grundy and Tama Counties
http://andrewsmith.typepad.com/
The
truly innovative thing about the Andrew Smith blog is that it is run by
the candidate himself – Andrew Smith, Iowa House candidate in district
40, Grundy and Tama counties. A time-consuming task, to be
sure. But, as Smith acknowledges, “The days of the static, boring
political website are over.”
Smith is
well known for making his detailed positions available online, a rarity
in this age of the don’t-say-too-much-or-it-will-be-used-against-you
campaign philosophy embraced by both major parties. Says Smith,
“My blog enables me as a candidate, to build an interactive community,
acquire instant feedback and share with thousands of other bloggers and
supporters my thoughts on the news of the day.” He posts articles
of interest to supporters in addition to answering direct questions and
covering initiatives he believes will make Iowa a better place to live,
work, and raise a family.
This is the first year that Democracy for Iowa has awarded Iowa’s Best Campaign Blogs.
Des Moines Register Endorses Kerry
Des Moines Register Endorses Kerry
Des Moines Register
About
half of Americans have lost confidence in George W. Bush, yet many hang
back from embracing the alternative. That's unfortunate, because
Senator John F. Kerry is a wise and decent man who has the makings of a
fine president.
Still,
there's little wonder that voters have doubts. Most of what they think
they know about the senator comes from a masterful job of “defining the
opposition” carried out by the Bush campaign and its surrogates before
most people got a chance to know the real Kerry.
So
Americans were introduced to Kerry the flip-flopper. Kerry the softie
on defense. Kerry the wild-eyed liberal. Kerry the appeaser who will
let terrorists attack America.
It's sad
that an incumbent pResident chose to employ so much of his vast
campaign resources to tear down his challenger, and not to cite his own
accomplishments or to move the nation ahead. But perhaps that's
precisely the difficulty Bush faces.
His
pResidency has been one of bold leadership undermined by a failure to
achieve meaningful results. The resolute leader Americans rallied
behind after Sept. 11, 2001, sidetracked the country into a mess in
Iraq. The fiscally responsible, compassionate conservative Americans
thought they elected, the man we hoped would improve schools, lower the
cost of health care and find more jobs, has failed to do so and instead
run up an unprecedented national debt.
The
pResident, whose swagger in adversity and plain-folks straight talk can
be so appealing, has failed to see the reality of the problems or
outline a road map for progress for the next four years.
National polls show Bush's disapproval numbers hovering near 50 percent.
Now it
is time to take the next logical step and recognize John Kerry as
someone who could do better. It's time to see Kerry as the person he
is, not as the caricature created in Bush's campaign ads.
Kerry
won the presidential debates because the man Americans saw on live
television differed from the caricature. Americans saw a thoughtful,
experienced, exceptionally well-informed candidate who cares deeply
about his country and its people.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
Culver Troubled by Voting SNAFU at Iowa State
Culver 'Troubled' by Voting SNAFU at Iowa State
Ames Tribune
Iowa Republican Disenfranchises College Students AGAIN
Story County Auditor Mary Mosiman says she didn't anticipate the number
of Iowa State University students who wanted to vote at an early voting
location on campus.
Consequently, 50 to 100 potential voters were not allowed to cast their ballots at Parks Library on Thursday.
Mosiman said election officials ran low on ballots for one of the two most common precincts students fall into.
“This is a learning experience,” Mosiman said. “It was a mistake only by me and nobody else. I won't make this mistake again.”
Iowa law says anyone who arrives at a satellite voting station prior to
the time the site is scheduled to close should be allowed to vote.
…”The auditors are required by law to provide sufficient number of
ballots for satellite voting stations,” Iowa Secretary of State Chet
Culver said at an appearance on campus. “That would be their problem,
not the students', if they ran out of ballots.”
…Culver said Mosiman misinterpreted state law when potential voters
were told they could not vote because the polling station had closed.
It's the second time in the past two years Mosiman has misinterpreted the same election law, he said.
In October 2002, State Deputy Auditor Rob Berntsen sent Mosiman a
letter after a complaint was received about early voting sites from the
chair of the Story County Democratic Party, Jan Bauer.
“If this were the first incident we may or may not have handled it the
same way,” Culver said. “But if you look back at the record here, it is
very troubling.”
Culver, a Democrat, is sending a letter to Mosiman regarding the
incident. In that letter, he asks Mosiman to provide him with a written
explanation of what happened by noon on Wednesday.
“This is very troubling,” Culver said. “This doesn't happen in Iowa. It should disturb all of us.”
Mosiman, a Republican, is up for re-election on Nov. 2. She is being challenged by Jim Hutter, a Democrat.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
- Schultz Vindicated: Voter Fraud Proven!
- Schultz Raises Dead Voter Scare Again
- Repubs Stage Crime at NH Polls
- Wondering About GOP Caucus Count
- Judge Fires Voting Machine Investigators
- Globe-Gazette Decries “Cheap Shot” from SoS Schultz
- Voting By Email Is Foolish
- Congratulations, Iowa
- Auditors Study Photo ID
- Iowa’s Best Criminals
