Send me picture postcards from Kentucky: The Web site of Steve Beshear, Democratic Candidate for Governor of Kentucky
I’ve been slacking off on my “political website” reviews. Truth is, I had started with the idea of doing just the presidential candidates’ websites, but then I got bored. However, earlier this week I came across this link on the Albuquerque Tribune…Jones of the Nile hits the mainstream press!
One way to liven up the website reviews is to focus on more than just the Prez candidates. So here goes our first entry for an office beyond the beltway. And given that he just won the Democratic primary with more than the required 40% to avoid a run-off, it only seems appropriate to start with the website of Steve Beshear, candidate for Governor of Kentucky.
I’m not a website expert, nor do I have the best grasp on how social marketing can be incorporated into a candidate’s website to build a netroots base. What I can do is tell it like it is, letting folks know whether the information architecture is organized, whether the site is easy to navigate, and whether the site looks pretty. At times I might even read the content, and let folks know what catchy things I find. With that in mind, on to Beshear’s website!
Look at that homepage banner. I’m trying to think what this banner reminds me of more: (1) Blue Mountain Arts circa 1996, (2) a powerpoint presentation gone awry, (3) an advertisement for a gay retirement community in the wilderness. Right now I’m leaning toward number 3, only because I think Steve Beshear and his lieutenant governor, Daniel Mongiardo, look like realtors with their photoshopped bodies. Plus, the site also uses the same colors as mega-realtor Howard Hanna.
A web equivalent of a billboard takes up a chunk of the homepage (see above), inviting the user to “read more of Steve’s welcome message.” The first line: “Thanks for visiting our campaign website—our cyber headquarters.” I find the phrase “cyber headquarters” to sound sexual. I’m probably the only one.
The welcome message is about as welcoming as the cashier who says “Hi, how are you?” to every customer who comes through her line. It’s pleasant, but something no one will really pay attention to, let alone remembers.
Hmm…I change my mind. The colors on this site are less Howard Hanna, and more Green Bay Packers.
There are six menu links on the left-side navigation bar, and four incognito menu links at the top of the page (they blend in with the rotating pictures of waterfalls, and a fenced in yard that might be Churchill Downs). The six on the side start with a photo gallery.
Here is my favorite photo (see below). The caption says “Western Kentucky Campaign Swing.” A barren Church. Now that spells campaign excitement. Shoot, I think I’ve seen happier images depicted in “The Grapes of Wrath.” Overall, I’m not crazy about this photo section. It might just be my browser, but there’s all sorts of text crawling behind the thumbnails, and the page menu at the bottom is squished in with lots of other text. And no rally shots. Not one. Where’s the movement?
The second area is “Meet the Team.” You can click on links to get to know Steve, as well as his Lt. Gov running mate (Dr.) Daniel Mongiardo. Click on Steve’s name, and you’re greeted with the headline “STEVE BESHEAR IS A LEADER!” This, I believe, is one of those instances where an editor thinks it sounds more leader-like if you put an exclamation point at the end. (e.g. BUSH MEETS WITH POLAND ABOUT MISSILE DEFENSE! We all know that Bush probably knows more about tumbleweed than he does about missile defense, but darn it if that exclamation point doesn’t send a leadership signal.)
Steve Beshear has another problem. When I google “Steve Beshear for Governor,” his website shows up fourth on the list. Beshear’s wikipedia entry and a Kentucky blogger come up first. Is this a sign that, really, no one is interested in the Kentucky governor’s race? Save for some yokel blogger who likes to write petty comments about website design – a subject he knows even less about than tumbleweed (see earlier paragraph)? As the Magic 8-ball would say, “All signs point to yes.”
(Tumbleweed, for those curious, was the name of a pony I rode at Horse Camp back when I was in 5th grade.)
The rest of Beshear’s website has some issues for me. If you click on the campaign calender, you’re taken to a blank page. There are links for “day,” “week,” and “month,” but I can’t help but think it would be better to list some events, even if they are the most immediate. I also like the link “Email this page,” because there’s nothing more fun than emailing a blank webpage to all of your friends. While you’re at it, go ahead and sign them up for random email newsletters, too.
(Side note: the homepage also has no scheduled events listed on it. Beshear, come out of hiding!)
As far as actual issues go, Beshear hits on them all: reforming pardon power (a nasty slap at Beshear’s opponent, Pardon Powerful Ernie Fletcher), the minimum wage, veterans, expanded gaming (I assume that means hunting, and not universal wiis for everyone), energy, economic development, and health care (Beshear’s lt gov running mate is Daniel Mongiardo, a doctor, who nearly beat Sen. Jim Bunning in 2004 during a race for the Senate, after Bunning joked that Mongiardo was so plump and dark-skinned, he looked like Saddam Hussein. Jim Bunning was the Pete Domenici of 2004.) My favorite issue, however, is “Putting Kentucky First.” This is the type of thing candidates say because it sounds really good, even though presumably a state’s governor would always place their state first. It’s like me saying, “I’m going to breathe today,” or “everybody poops.” It’s like, duh.
But the part I like the best is the Beshear Gear. It’s basically his campaign store, where you can buy t-shirts, coffee cups, more t-shirts, keychains, more t-shirts, campaign buttons, and t-shirts. BUT, what I like the best is that you can request a free bumper sticker. For those of us with scrapbooks of campaigns past, this is something that’s hard to pass up. Sadly, you must live in Kentucky. Or lie.
The only thing that drives me nuts about the Beshear Gear store is that once you’re there, there’s no way to get back to the candidate’s actual webpage. Ordered a t-shirt, but now want to find out what Beshear thinks about the minimum wage? Tough luck. Priced a campaign button but now want to view pictures from the rally in Hazard? Better luck next time. Bought t-shirts for all of your friends, but now want a recipe for Fried Bananas. Click here!
In all, on a scale of one to five Secretariats, I give this site a 2. That said, Beshear could have this website, and he’d still likely win the election. His opponent, Ernie Fletcher, is about as popular as Phil Specter right now. Ah, the joys of running against a corrupt and weak opponent.
One way to liven up the website reviews is to focus on more than just the Prez candidates. So here goes our first entry for an office beyond the beltway. And given that he just won the Democratic primary with more than the required 40% to avoid a run-off, it only seems appropriate to start with the website of Steve Beshear, candidate for Governor of Kentucky.
I’m not a website expert, nor do I have the best grasp on how social marketing can be incorporated into a candidate’s website to build a netroots base. What I can do is tell it like it is, letting folks know whether the information architecture is organized, whether the site is easy to navigate, and whether the site looks pretty. At times I might even read the content, and let folks know what catchy things I find. With that in mind, on to Beshear’s website!
Look at that homepage banner. I’m trying to think what this banner reminds me of more: (1) Blue Mountain Arts circa 1996, (2) a powerpoint presentation gone awry, (3) an advertisement for a gay retirement community in the wilderness. Right now I’m leaning toward number 3, only because I think Steve Beshear and his lieutenant governor, Daniel Mongiardo, look like realtors with their photoshopped bodies. Plus, the site also uses the same colors as mega-realtor Howard Hanna.
A web equivalent of a billboard takes up a chunk of the homepage (see above), inviting the user to “read more of Steve’s welcome message.” The first line: “Thanks for visiting our campaign website—our cyber headquarters.” I find the phrase “cyber headquarters” to sound sexual. I’m probably the only one.
The welcome message is about as welcoming as the cashier who says “Hi, how are you?” to every customer who comes through her line. It’s pleasant, but something no one will really pay attention to, let alone remembers.
Hmm…I change my mind. The colors on this site are less Howard Hanna, and more Green Bay Packers.There are six menu links on the left-side navigation bar, and four incognito menu links at the top of the page (they blend in with the rotating pictures of waterfalls, and a fenced in yard that might be Churchill Downs). The six on the side start with a photo gallery.
Here is my favorite photo (see below). The caption says “Western Kentucky Campaign Swing.” A barren Church. Now that spells campaign excitement. Shoot, I think I’ve seen happier images depicted in “The Grapes of Wrath.” Overall, I’m not crazy about this photo section. It might just be my browser, but there’s all sorts of text crawling behind the thumbnails, and the page menu at the bottom is squished in with lots of other text. And no rally shots. Not one. Where’s the movement?
The second area is “Meet the Team.” You can click on links to get to know Steve, as well as his Lt. Gov running mate (Dr.) Daniel Mongiardo. Click on Steve’s name, and you’re greeted with the headline “STEVE BESHEAR IS A LEADER!” This, I believe, is one of those instances where an editor thinks it sounds more leader-like if you put an exclamation point at the end. (e.g. BUSH MEETS WITH POLAND ABOUT MISSILE DEFENSE! We all know that Bush probably knows more about tumbleweed than he does about missile defense, but darn it if that exclamation point doesn’t send a leadership signal.)
Steve Beshear has another problem. When I google “Steve Beshear for Governor,” his website shows up fourth on the list. Beshear’s wikipedia entry and a Kentucky blogger come up first. Is this a sign that, really, no one is interested in the Kentucky governor’s race? Save for some yokel blogger who likes to write petty comments about website design – a subject he knows even less about than tumbleweed (see earlier paragraph)? As the Magic 8-ball would say, “All signs point to yes.”
(Tumbleweed, for those curious, was the name of a pony I rode at Horse Camp back when I was in 5th grade.)
The rest of Beshear’s website has some issues for me. If you click on the campaign calender, you’re taken to a blank page. There are links for “day,” “week,” and “month,” but I can’t help but think it would be better to list some events, even if they are the most immediate. I also like the link “Email this page,” because there’s nothing more fun than emailing a blank webpage to all of your friends. While you’re at it, go ahead and sign them up for random email newsletters, too.
(Side note: the homepage also has no scheduled events listed on it. Beshear, come out of hiding!)
As far as actual issues go, Beshear hits on them all: reforming pardon power (a nasty slap at Beshear’s opponent, Pardon Powerful Ernie Fletcher), the minimum wage, veterans, expanded gaming (I assume that means hunting, and not universal wiis for everyone), energy, economic development, and health care (Beshear’s lt gov running mate is Daniel Mongiardo, a doctor, who nearly beat Sen. Jim Bunning in 2004 during a race for the Senate, after Bunning joked that Mongiardo was so plump and dark-skinned, he looked like Saddam Hussein. Jim Bunning was the Pete Domenici of 2004.) My favorite issue, however, is “Putting Kentucky First.” This is the type of thing candidates say because it sounds really good, even though presumably a state’s governor would always place their state first. It’s like me saying, “I’m going to breathe today,” or “everybody poops.” It’s like, duh.
But the part I like the best is the Beshear Gear. It’s basically his campaign store, where you can buy t-shirts, coffee cups, more t-shirts, keychains, more t-shirts, campaign buttons, and t-shirts. BUT, what I like the best is that you can request a free bumper sticker. For those of us with scrapbooks of campaigns past, this is something that’s hard to pass up. Sadly, you must live in Kentucky. Or lie.The only thing that drives me nuts about the Beshear Gear store is that once you’re there, there’s no way to get back to the candidate’s actual webpage. Ordered a t-shirt, but now want to find out what Beshear thinks about the minimum wage? Tough luck. Priced a campaign button but now want to view pictures from the rally in Hazard? Better luck next time. Bought t-shirts for all of your friends, but now want a recipe for Fried Bananas. Click here!
In all, on a scale of one to five Secretariats, I give this site a 2. That said, Beshear could have this website, and he’d still likely win the election. His opponent, Ernie Fletcher, is about as popular as Phil Specter right now. Ah, the joys of running against a corrupt and weak opponent.
posted by MikeJ at
9:20 AM
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