The Web Pays Attention to Long-Shots

You no longer have to be a front-runner to get people to notice you. Long-shot candidates are making creative use of the web, not in spite of the fact that they're long-shots, but because of it.

In Democrat Chris Dodd's web site's coverage of the Presidential debates, he includes the "Talk Clock": a meter that measures how often candidates got to talk during debates, and the results are disproportionate.



Meanwhile, Republican Tom Tancredo (who?) has been causing quite a stir on blogs and in news stories with a new fear-mongering ad, intended for cable stations, that converges illegal immigration and terrorism:



This miles-over-the-top ad seems like a cry for attention from a long-shot candidate. Because of the web, though, Tancredo certainly got the attention he wanted with this ad.

The Fluff of Candidate Family Blogs

Yesterday, Alex Beam of The Boston Globe lambasted what he called the "ham-handed use of the Internet" among the Presidential candidates. Who does Beam name as the greatest offenders? Beam singles out Hillary Clinton for spamming supporters with contrived emails from Bill, and Mitt Romney for the corny "Five Brothers" blog.

When checking out "Five Brothers," I found it to be a great example of all the pitfalls that come with the blogs of political insiders and family members. It manages to contain a lot of words without really saying anything at all. Does anyone who isn't already a huge Romney fan honestly care about seeing staged pictures of Mitt Romney with his grandkids or reading about how Tagg Romney was convinced by his dad not to register as a Democrat and become part of the GOP instead?

The brothers also linked to the blog of John McCain's daughter Meghan. This is just as painfully cutesy as "Five Brothers": it refers to itself as a "blogette" and, according to the Bros, will be discussing "shoes and … fashion tips" as well as the realm of politics. Like, oh my God!