Reno Gazette-Journal On Carter's Online Campaigning

"If you're not online, you're not credible, candidates discover" declares today's Reno Gazette-Journal. I tend to agree since I don't even bother to take a closer look at candidates who don't even make an effort to put up a campaign website. An obscure former gubernatorial candidate in California comes to mind who seems to think that talking about losing weight is what voters care about while looking for a statewide official. But I digress.

Here's an excerpt from the RGJ's story:

Sarah Carter has made more than 2,000 friends on MySpace.com and is adding more than 100 new ones every day.

Well, technically, it's her father Jack's U.S. Senate campaign that is making friends. Sarah, 27, is the one posting on the popular Web site in an effort to keep the growing list of "friends" informed about the campaign's activities.

"The MySpace page has been really successful," she said. "But we haven't really even scratched the surface of the potential for something like MySpace."

Sarah Carter also maintains a blog on her father's campaign Web site, updating it at least twice a day.

Whether Democrat Jack Carter can upset incumbent Republican John Ensign in November's election remains to be seen, but the Carter campaign's online efforts illustrate a growing trend in politics to utilize the Internet to reach voters.

If there is a positive example of online campaigning in Nevada or California it has to be the Carter campaign. What they have done, and especially what Sarah has done, with so little financial resources is truly amazing. Money is important but if you don't have enough of it you have to become creative and the Carters have shown how it's done.

Here are the links:

Carter Blog

Jack Carter's MySpace page

Sarah Carter at Daily Kos

Now we're just waiting for Sarah Carter to run for office ;)