An Open Letter to Maria Cantwell

[UPDATE:  Just six days after I wrote this letter, the Cantwell campaign web-site was updated.  Take a look at my follow-up post.]

Dear Ms. Cantwell,

On your website at www.cantwell.com, you have a convenient option called “Tell a Friend.”  I endorse your reelection and so, with “Tell a Friend,” I have the option to quickly and easily send a friend a message saying, “I am supporting Maria Cantwell and encourage you to visit her web site to learn more about her campaign and to lend your support as well.”  When I get to your website, however, I’m saddened to find that you say so little about your campaign.

At your site, I find a few bland and dry pages, some non-changing content, nine (count ‘em) photos stretching back a few years, a page to submit information to volunteer (I haven’t heard back yet), and—actually, that’s about it.

When I go to Mike McGavick’s site I am bombarded with all of the “right” tools needed to run a progressive campaign:  I see a blog; I see a newly-launched Open Mike Podcast inviting others to contribute frequently; I see frequently updated photo, video, and audio galleries.  Every week I get the Mike McGavick Monday Minute emailed to me.  But most importantly, there is an alive and changing event calendar telling me the next event at which I can get involved in the campaign.  It’s a multi-format media frenzy for anyone using the web as a way to get political information—but the netroots are supposed to be Democrats!

Where are the blogs, podcasts, videos, weekly email newsletters, and most importantly, the dynamic and alive event calendar on your site?  How can we get this information on you via the web?  The people that would consume these formats are quickly becoming a more and more important constituency and not offering content like this could really begin to negatively affect your reelection campaign.

You’re going to need an internet presence that reaches out to the netroots; one that makes it easy to understand where you stand on the issues that Mike McGavick rants on about in concisely packaged audio files.  Until your web-site learns to love the netroots, it will become more and more difficult to follow your campaign and be passionate about it.

Sincerely,

Jeff Maurone