Okay much as been made out of leveraging the world wide web as a tool for campaigning, but unfortunately the Republican candidates for president seem to have still not quite figured out how to exploit this tool to it's best advantage. Therefore I am going to give you a couple tips that you may feel free to use....or not.
1) Hire a blogger, get a volunteer, whatever but you need to have somebody with you everywhere you go with a laptop equipped with wireless ability and a digital video camera. This person should be treated just like the person who carries the "nuclear football" for the president.
They don't have to be constantly typing away but they need to be there at every stop to record what you say, get video for use now or later and to keep tabs on what is being said on the web.
If the Huckster had this he wouldn't have been caught ignorant when he was asked about the NIE on Iran's nuclear policy.
2) All of the candidates have web sites but apparently they think they are just a one way communication tool.
I know for every candidates' web site that I have visited when I registered they asked for an email address, but strangely my inbox is quiet. The candidates need to get proactive. There should be a message every so often from the campaigns to keep me abreast of what the candidate is doing.
3) Publish itineraries on your web site or send them in the emails.
None of the candidates tell me where they are going to be. This serves two purposes. Now I don't expect the itinerary to be so specific as to say at 8:10 Shake hands with people at the Busy Bee Cafe in Morgan Falls, NC etc.
What I am looking for is information such as what city you will be in and if you feel it is pertinent what activity, such as a speech at the American Legion or the NRA.
The reason it is important to know where you are is because then other bloggers and normal people (just I just say bloggers ain't normal?) can go look for local news coverage of your visit. It is apparent that the Mass Market Media has anointed certain candidates as "front runners" and they are the only ones who get all the ink and the face time on tv. You will find local news coverage is often much fairer and more accurate then the big news conglomerates are. If I could find stories from local news about my favorite candidates then I could post them for further dissemination across the web.
4) Too many stories highlighted on blogs come from news stories in the national media so if you aren't making the scene there then you will also be missing on the web.
If you have a story you want to get out send it out.
5) Grace a couple of bloggers with your presence. Fred did this back in July and August, which helped to create the buzz about his candidacy, but now he has gone silent.
6) Can you win using the web?
No you can't win relying on the web only you must use all the resources in your toolbox, but when people in Iowa can see how people in Georgia feel about a candidate or some guy in California can post information about your campaign to be read by somebody in Maine it can't hurt.
7) Finally, if you complain about the lack of coverage in the Mass Market Media why aren't you using this resource?
Any way those are just my thoughts, free of charge. The bottom line is don't make me look for you, come to me.
UPDATE:1:00 PM Duncan Hunter does have an itinerary on his web site.
And Fred Thompson has a schedule up for his Iowa bus tour.
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