Mad Voter: Idaho's political Web ain't a rockin'

The use of Internet technology by candidates should be an old story by now.

But in Idaho it runs the gamut from former state Rep. Henry Kulczyk’s apparent afterthought to the full Web 2.0 treatment at saundramcdavid.com.

The majority of Idaho candidates do not even have Web sites, let alone MySpace or Facebook profiles. With primary elections just over a month away, it is a challenge to find out anything online about the majority of the contenders.

Neither of the Democrats in the only contested Democratic primary in the state appear to have any online presence whatsoever. Glida Bothwell, Michelle Waddell… are you out there?

And while you can read more than you ever wanted to know about self-described “Ron Paul Republican” James Stivers neither the incumbent, north Idaho Rep. Joyce Broadsword, or the other GOP challenger, Bill Largen, have any Google cred whatsoever.

Most of the federal candidates seem to have it down. Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, who is running for the Senate seat soon to be abandoned by Larry Craig, is all over the Google AdWords. And Risch has claimed that he does not even know how to check email.

The major Democratic contender for Craig’s seat, Larry LaRocco, has a series of well-done YouTube videos, one of which has been viewed nearly 1,000 times. http://www.youtube.com/user/laroccoforsenate

Pro-Life (a man who actually changed his name to Pro-Life), an Independent contender for Craig's seat in the May 27 primary, does not appear to have a Web site. I imagine the URL he sought was already taken.

Perhaps in a state like Idaho yard signs and phone calls and walking door to door still gets the job done. But it would be nice for a reporter in Boise to be able to find out something about a legislative race in Preston or Hayden before picking up the phone.

So maybe that’s what the small town papers are for. But if that’s the case, what are they waiting for?

With an important presidential year primary weeks away, Idaho’s media outlets are not clamoring for legislative battle stories or even covering the federal races adequately.
Nathaniel Hoffman is an independent journalist in Boise, Idaho. His online home is PaleoMedia.org.
A glance at Idaho’s numerous small town papers, including the Idaho Statesman, the largest paper in the state, shows scant interest in the upcoming primaries.

With wall to wall coverage of McCain, Clinton and Obama, one would think there would be an interest in what local politicians are offering?

So this Mad Voter is delivering. It’s called PaleoMedia.org. It’s a place for wall to wall coverage of Idaho legislative and federal races. It’s an experiment in the democratization of media where on-the-ground reporting is combined with reader discussion to create something new.

It’s not yet clear if Idaho candidates are ready to have their broadband rocked. But we’re betting Idaho voters are.

Editor’s note: Nathaniel Hoffman's weekly blogs are part of a feature on PoliticsWest called "Diary of a Mad Voter." The group blog, published in partnership with NewWest.Net/Politics, is intended to give a glimpse into the hearts and minds of several independent-minded voters and thinkers in the Rocky Mountain West in the 2008 election year.

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