Well, it's been a week since the election. Were candidates serious about their online campaigns? The best way to tell is to take a look at people who lost their elections to see if they disappeared after their loss or if they continued to engage their online supporters. We'll look at Creigh Deeds, Jody Wagner, Steve Shannon and the 8 Democratic members of the House of Delegates who lost re-election.
The statewide Democratic ticket wisely recognized the power of twitter this year. Twitter is where many reporters are checking to see stories as they break and the immediate reactions of activists and voters to them. It's also a great way to stay involved with your youngest voters- and since comments are limited to 140 characters it is quick enough that candidates don't need to spend much time to make an impact.
Creigh Deeds launched his twitter earlier this year, and won a lot of followers for his very personal tweets- including his music picks of the day. He personally updated it almost every day during the election. The morning after, Creigh tweeted and thanked his supporters- and hasn't been heard from since. This appears to have been an election pander only- I doubt Creigh will be back with any regularity- even though he has a lot more time for it!
Jody Wagner launched her twitter in August of 2008 and tweeted for almost 15 months. Jody was on a personal mission to prove that twitter should be a happier place, and she found time for an upbeat tweet with an explanation point almost every day. Oops, I mean... every day! Anyway- her last tweet was about 15 minutes before the polls closed. Since then- Jody has left the building. (Oops, missed one the day after the election. No word since then).
Unlike Creigh and Jody who actually put some personal effort into twitter during the campaign, Steve Shannon tweeted less than 100 times- and many of them appeared to be written by staff. Steve had the most unintentionally hysterical moment on twitter earlier this year when he accidentally tweeted his cell phone number (before immediately changing it- as if he was too important for twitter users to have his cell). Pfft. Bizarre- especially considering he's had that number for at least 5 years since he first ran for the House. Anyway, so it's no big surprise that his final tweet was at 2 p.m. on election day. Doubt we will hear from him again until he wants something else.
At the House of Delegates level, candidates are still more focused on Web 1.0 (static websites). So how about the eight Democratic incumbents who lost re-election last week. Have they thanked their supporters or congratulated their opponents? Have they even acknowledged they lost?
Margi Vanderhye is proud to represent you and has been endorsed by the Washington Post and the Fairfax Times! But not a word about the results last week.
Joe Bouchard decided to take some action online after he lost. He deleted his website.
Dan Bowling had one of the worst websites (it's a throw back to sites built in the early 1990's). He can still help you with state bureaucrats- and you can still jam to "Working in a Coal Mine" while visiting his site- but no mention of his defeat last week. Maybe the music on his site is a preview of his next career...
Paul Nichols has some glamour shots up and he thanks you for sending him to Richmond. Not a word about the fact that voters decided not to do that again.
Shannon Valentine has some "key endorsements" and nice pictures. Nothing about the election results Tuesday.
Chuck Caputo still needs your vote on November 3rd. Uh... it's November 10th.
Bobby Mathieson is in a recount, but has appeared to have lost his seat. His website doesn't mention any of this- he still needs your vote.
The one bright spot is David Poisson, who has a very nice thank you note up to voters for allowing him to serve for the last four years. A classy ending to his time in the House.
UPDATE: While I was writing this, Creigh came back! Hopefully this is a good sign for the others.
UPDATE #2- Maybe this post is inspiring some people, Chuck now has his thank you letter up.
