Does my friend need both a static website and a blog for his political campaign?

I bet my friend will start his political campaign with both a static website and a blog.

The election is for a seat in our state senate and it won’t be open until year after next.  It’s early, but he’s starting to lay the groundwork.  And one of the topics is a website.

Two weeks before this general election you can click on a couple hundred websites for legislative candidates in this state and they all look alike.  They all have a homepage where each candidate provides the cliches of the campaign like they will make more jobs, reduce the cost and make available healthcare for everybody and it will say they are for better schools.

Most often you will see a page of endorsements where local officeholders, union locals, business leaders, the county sheriff and others say the candidate has their support.  And there’s probably an “About Me” page where the candidate has bloviated all over him or herself.

Some candidates may have a page where credit card contributions can be made or where voters can volunteer to put up signs or go door-to-door.

The few who have a blog try a post or two and then don’t do anymore.  Most often the posts sound like they were spit out of a news release factory.  Forget posts with any pretense towards building community.

What should I tell my friend?

Can a candidate grasp how to effectively use a blog and other social media?

Are they too tied to the old campaign practices of the past where literature is dumped and workers go literally door-to-door?

political candidates, legislative candidates, candidate websites, legislative blogs, political communication

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