Rating the Candidate Websites: Lieutenant Governor (Dem's)

I've reviewed the Democratic candidates for LG's websites, trying to look at the same criteria across all of them, and have rated them as follows. Obviously, the website is only one part of the overall campaign, but it's an increasingly important part, as Barack Obama and many others have shown in recent years. With that, on to the ratings...

Jon Bowerbank
The website appears to have had a major overhaul recently and looks very sharp (I believe the programming language content management system being used now is Joomla, while the previous version was WordPress). I like the fact that Jon's "Twitter" feed is front and center (and updated), as this is dynamic content that's essential if you want people to come back to your site. Also, having the most visible buttons as social networking, volunteer-related, or "contribute" (in red for even more notice) is an excellent idea. I like the mouse-over feature for the menu items going down on the right. Overall, the focus here seems to be on interaction, which is definitely a good thing. "Join our team" is at the top, as it should be (and usually is on candidate websites). I don't see a splash page, which I have mixed feelings about (I've heard they're effective but I find them annoying). The issues positions are good, although I'd like to see more issues and more details. But again, what's there now is fine. I like the feature where you can follow Jon's travels around Virginia. My only wish there would be for Jon to offset the carbon his SUV is spewing into the atmosphere as he racks up miles on his odomoter (another cool feature; now at 86,222 miles). There are lots of photos on Jon's Flickr page, with the latest from February 19, but only one video under multimedia. One other issue: introducing a new domain name this deep into the effort seems a bit unusual. True, they'll be able to redirect the old one (jonbowerbank.com) to jb2009.com, but they've been promoting the old domain for a long time and it doesn't seem like the best idea to change now. The blog appears to be getting updated, although not as frequently as it could be. Finally, I don't see the word "Democrat" on there, as in "Democrat for Lieutenant Governor," and I don't particularly like that. Overall, though, I'd give this site an "A minus" - nice job!

Jody Wagner
A nice-looking site, although I find it a bit "busy" compared to the cleaner layout of Bowerbank's site. Also, where's the word "Democrat," as in "Democrat for Lieutenant Governor?" Hmmmm. Moving right along, it looks like the Wagner campaign has beefed up the issues section significantly, although there's still very little on controversial issues like "guns, God and gays" for instance. There's a video section, but just one video ("Jody's Jefferson Jackson Dinner Message") listed there. The photos button takes you to Jody's "Flickr" page, where the latest photo is from January 5. The "grassroots endorsements" roll on the left is a nice touch; to date, I see more than 700 endorsements, including elected officials (which appear to be listed twice, under "grassroots endorsements" and also under "delegates" or whatever). Jody's Twitter feed is ok, although not my cup of tea at all with the constant exclamation points and exclamations about how "great!" everything and everyone is. Overall, a nice site, A minus/B plus.

Mike Signer
He's got a good-looking splash page which says "Democrat" for Lieutenant Governor. Good to see. Overall, the site looks sharp, with clear buttons at the top and a big "Join Us!" on the right side. In comparison to Jon Bowerbank and Jody Wagner, Mike Signer has lots of videos, and they're much more informal, grassroots-style, than the other two candidates. I strongly prefer that, but then again, I've got a strong netroots/grassroots leaning. Also, those "coffee break" videos are well done and, I think, effective. On the issues, there's not a lot of detail and I'd like to see more. Mike's photo gallery is fairly slim, a bit out of date (Mike in 2005?) and too much outside of Virginia (Mike in Denver, Mike in Qatar?). Also, overall I prefer that candidates have Flickr pages, and I don't see one here. Mike definitely "gets" Twitter, with a frequently updated page that isn't just "attended a great meeting with great Democrats!" Finally, the campaign blog needs to be updated more frequently; right now, there are only two entries, although the top one is about Mike's "live blog" right here on Blue Virginia, which is cool. All in all, I'd give this site a B-plus, particularly for the excellent videos. Just beef up the blog and the issues and you'll get an "A" in my book.

Rich Savage
I could do without the "get Savage" tag line, although it's memorable - and that matters. I could do without the video that automatically starts playing; annoying. Other than that, this is a very basic site. The "news" and "events" buttons are non-functional. There's not much on issues, although what's there is very good (e.g., "Rich's environmental positions"). I don't see Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter pages. I don't see any "tell a friend" feature. I don't see the word "Democrat." Overall, this is a functional but rudimentary website. I'd give it a "B-minus/C-plus" and call it a "work in progress." Like the candidate?

Pat Edmonson
A very busy website which plays some kind of strange music/fanfare when you log on. Also, I find it jarring and a bit odd how Pat Edmonson's picture pops up when you log on. To each their own, I guess. On the plus side, I'm glad to see the words "Democrat" and "Progressive" front and center. Pat has Facebook, Flickr, MySpace and YouTube functionality, which is good. However, there aren't many photos on Flickr, the Facebook page is extremely sparse, and the YouTube channel has just 2 videos so far. Pat has the most detailed issues page of any candidate, most of which is strongly progressive (e.g., "We must make passage of an Equal Rights Amendment a top priority!", "Offshore drilling off the Virginia coast is environmentally irresponsible"). The blog has been updated recently, but there's a gap from February 8 to February 28 where there are no posts. Overall, I'd give this site a B-minus/C-plus...some good things, some not-so-good things, some that need to be fleshed out/filled in.

Full disclosure: I worked for Jon Bowerbank until the end of November 2008, when I decided to get out of blogging and political consulting. We see how THAT one worked out. :) Currently, I am not consulting for any of the LG candidates.