Where are you going to get information about Lansing mayoral candidates Virg Bernero and Carol Wood?
Mayor Virg Bernero's campaign website
That’s right. There’s not much information out there from which you can make an informed decision. Sure you can go with your prejudice driven by comments from others, by first impressions about either candidate or just a gut feeling.
Have you been to either candidate’s campaign website? Check out the online campaign presence for incumbent Mayor Virg Bernero and for his challenger, City Council-member Carol Wood.
Before you click on their sites, keep in mind that a growing number of people go to the web before they make many decisions in the political arena or in the marketplace. They do it to check out homes for sale, where to buy the best Mexican food, where to buy the best micro-brew and who to vote for.
In addition, they want to be able to interact with the person or people they are doing business with or asking for their vote.
A third point; both candidates Bernero and Wood have positioned themselves and have positioned the city of Lansing as
Council-member Carol Wood's campaign website
a nascent center for information technology and other emerging technologies. They are both on Facebook. They both Twitter occasionally and they both have websites.
That brings us to content on the Bernero and Wood websites. What should be there? Should it include:
- Their visions for the city where they paint a picture of where they see the city of Lansing two years down the line, five and ten? I’m talking about more than saying that they want safe streets, great neighborhoods and a downtown where you buy a tasty margarita. Can you find such a vision state on either site?
- Their qualifications for office? I’m not talking just about the offices they’ve been elected to. What do they bring to the table? What have they done? For instance, what are Bernero’s greatest accomplishments in the Michigan Legislature where he served in the House and the Senate. Did he get any bills passed?
- What about Wood? She’s been on the Lansing City Council for a decade plus. She has been pegged as an obstructionist. What’s on her list of accomplishments? And I’m talking about more than fighting for more police protection and good neighborhoods. She needs to be specific.
- Their character and their personalities? Bernero has been seen around the country on a YouTube video going off on a Fox News reporter. He takes relish in that? Why? Is he just another pit bull or does his anger and tenacity serve a public purpose?
- Wood, in public meetings and face-to-face, comes off as a really nice person. She’d be a great younger sister or next door neighbor. Does she have the personality to lead the city council and to bring them together and to lead city hall and its struggles to pay for shrinking services?
Are their websites mainly electronic brochures, very static and non-interactive. Do their campaign websites invite comments and questions? There’s plenty more to look at. This is a start.
I invite your comments and reaction after reading both sites.
As someone who often designs websites, the first thing I would tell Carol to do is STOP THE MUSIC. People often surf at work or in class — there’s nothing worse than getting caught because someone puts music on their site that plays when you land there. Big-o mistake-o. But I am delighted to see Carol’s YouTube video – nice touch. Wes, you are absolutely right, however, that neither uses the home page to lay out a clear vision – or to engage us. How about a poll? a place to leave comments? a forum on city issues? a survey where results are reported later?
The web is a great place for the community to tell the candidates what they think – not just vice versa.
You know it. The first place anyone looks is on the web and neither candidate tells their story with their current website content. Also neither of the sites are cutting edge and I agree any site which opens with music I close immediately after a short session of swearing. Carol’s website also has problems loading on a somewhat slower connection. Could it be the music and the inbed? Virg’s site is cleaner and easier to navigate. Neither site tells a younger voter why they should vote for them and I don’t recall an RSS feed for updates on either site.