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Weiland Not Running… an Effective Campaign Website

Last updated on 2013.05.18

Pat Powers pumped out three blog posts in twelve hours to promote the rumor that Rick Weiland is simply a placeholder candidate for Brendan Johnson. Powers offers no hard evidence to support this assertion.

The idea that Weiland declares himself a candidate and declares Johnson not, just to boost Johnson's electoral chances, makes no sense. But if you're going to believe in rumors, at least base them on some objective evidence...

...like Weiland's ineffective campaign website. This piece of Tumblr junk (redundant?) carries a blank banner with "people for rick weiland" in lowercase letters. Lowercase? You do not run for United States Senate in lowercase.

The absence of capitals is not as alarming as the absence of an effort to get capital. Nowhere on this one-page website does Weiland ask for your money. He provides no "Donate" button. He doesn't even provide a contact form or an e-mail address that would allow anyone to say, "Rick! I got money! How do I send it to you?"

Join me at the armchair for some quarterbacking:

If I decide to run for Senate, before I call the press or drop the Twitter bomb, I go buy my five or ten favorite domain names, point them all toward HeidelbergerKicksRoundsButt.com, and put up a nice neat WordPress website with Howdy, Bio, Issues, Contact, Volunteer, and Donate pages. At the top of every page, I put my bright ActBlue widget to raise funds. And yes, I use capital letters.

Then, just as David Montgomery says, "Hello?" I flip the Web switch, and my website is ready to ride that first burst of press attention and Google juice to early donor buy-in. Folks come to my website during those first ten days after I announce wondering, "Who's this character, and should I give him money?" and my website is ready to tell them, "Here's who I am, and heck yes, you should send me money!" And when I get my first $5000 in campaign contributions by Friday (come on, progressive crusaders! money where mouth is!), I'm ready to hire someone to make my website look really good by next Friday.

But wait a minute: let me get this silly Pat Powers propeller beanie off my head. Weiland's failure to take these basic Web steps doesn't substantiate any rumor of wily Weiland wishy-washiness or backroom Brendan monkey business. It just suggests Weiland hasn't run a campaign since 2002, back when campaign websites were just becoming a really big deal.

Candidate Weiland has set up an ActBlue page; now he just needs to add the widget to the website and start banging the kettle in every e-mail and letter he sends. We can (constructively!) critique his effectiveness at campaigning, but Pat's going to need some actual evidence to show that Weiland isn't really campaigning.

By the way, Rick Weiland has filed his statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. He signed that document and FedExed it on May 8, the day he announced. (Of course, my friend Thad Wasson filed his statement of candidacy in October 2009 and still stiffed his date with Congressional destiny.)

33 Comments

  1. Rick 2013.05.17

    Pat's looking for a fantasy that gets any traction .... it helps if you're wearing a tinfoil hat.

  2. Vickie 2013.05.17

    "PP is a genius!"...said no one ever...

  3. SDBlue 2013.05.17

    Facebook has a page called People for Rick Weiland. I have posted as well as sent a message to the page. I would like more info on Mr. Weiland, where he stands on issues important to a progressive like me. I may want to volunteer. I have yet to hear back from anyone. I realize it is early in the 2014 election season, but the more the voters are informed, the better. I want a candidate who is going to stand up to those like Noem and Thune. My worst fear is three knuckleheads in D.C. if Rounds wins the Senate seat. Because as long as we have people in this state who think Noem is cute and looks good on the back of a horse, she will be reelected. We need a "truthsayer" to cut through all the GOP/TP rhetoric.

  4. Bree S. 2013.05.17

    I really get tired of sexist comments directed at Noem. She hasn't accomplished what she has in life by being stupid. The hypocritical liberal tactic of belittling the intelligence of every conservative woman is simply beyond the pale.

  5. SDBlue 2013.05.18

    Bree, as a woman in South Dakota, I am appalled she was reelected. She earned the moniker "No Show" Noem her first term. She had nothing to show for her freshman term but a college diploma. Yet, the voters sent her back to Washington. Why? It certainly was not because she did a good job the first time around.

  6. SDBlue 2013.05.18

    Oh and Bree, if you do not believe that people in this state support Noem just because they think she is cute, read her Facebook page.

  7. Kal Lis 2013.05.18

    "You do not run for United States Senate in lowercase."

    This political rule ranks with one of the best pop culture commands of all time: "There's no crying in baseball."

  8. Jenny 2013.05.18

    Does Pat have a real job, or does he just blog all day? I've always wondered.

  9. Rorschach 2013.05.18

    The fact is, a small state like South Dakota is wise to send members of both parties to DC. If we don't have a Democrat in our congressional delegation in 2015, Ellsworth AFB is lost. Since it has been on the base closure list twice, a Democratic administration won't have any second thoughts about closing it with only Republicans whining about their home state gravy. No gravy for obstructionists will be the rule. There are consequences as every petulant naughty child finds out.

  10. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.05.18

    "truthsayer": SDBlue, I think you're rightly calling for a candidate who can speak in the prophetic voice.

    The Facebook page is better than the Tumblr page, in that it makes interaction possible. But Facebook is not the right tool for offering interested donors and voters a quick synopsis of why you're running.

    [Now this is me letting Bree get me off topic.] Bree, it is not sexist to call knuckleheads knuckleheads. But please note that even I will admit she's crafty about campaigning. Her politics are a self-interested mishmash of thin Tea, crony capitalism, and pork, but she obviously knows how to grind that gruel into donations and votes.

  11. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.05.18

    Careful, R: by your logic, if we can win the House and Senate seats this time, we Dems will be obliged to re-elect Thune in 2016.

  12. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.05.18

    He works, Jenny, but his house-selling website stinks, too: He has this silly dynamic banner that slides through three different photos. Each banner photo is a different height, so when each new photo comes into view, it causes the all the text below it shift up or down just a little bit, which is a rather annoying phenomenon when you're trying to read the text.

  13. Bree S. 2013.05.18

    SDBlue, liberal women are often appalled by conservative women. It's expected that they disagree - but its possible to do so with a little more grace.

  14. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.05.18

    Do conservatives ding conservatives for using a little less grace in their disagreements with liberals?

    People for Weiland is promoting the Act Blue donation page today on Facebook and Twitter; the Tumblr site remains an afterthought without a Donate button.

  15. Bree S. 2013.05.18

    I'm not being hypocritical here Cory. You know that I will object to hateful comments aimed at liberals. But I have noticed a despicable trend of hatefulness aimed at conservative women. Apparently, in the eyes of "feminists," a woman should strive to be successful and powerful, but not conservative. It's open season on successful conservative women, such as Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann - who dare to defy the liberal ideal of feminism.

  16. Kal Lis 2013.05.18

    Based on the recent Rounds email solicitation that DWC posted, it looks as if Rounds is relying on a Facebook page instead of an independent website. Rounds does, however, have the donate button at the ready.

    In addition to the earlier movie allusion, I have to say that Cory's admonishments remind me of this scene from "O Brother Where Art Thou." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r0_NsG6pcU

  17. Rorschach 2013.05.18

    Sarah Palin & Michelle Bachmann. When they speak I just assume they are lying outright or at the very least telling half-truths for the purpose of deceiving. Fortunately for the country neither one of them has been successful in national elections.

  18. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.05.18

    Bree, you have indeed been occasionally more graceful in your critiques than other cons. But will you not grant that what you perceive as hatefulness aimed at Palin and Bachmann for violating some liberal ideal of feminism could just as easily be genuine disgust with their policies or with Bachmann's occasional detachment from reality and Palin's egotism?

  19. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.05.18

    Kal Lis, you and I need to moonlight as campaign consultants. Just as I've always wanted to put together an English or philosophy class based entirely on Star Trek episodes, we could put together a campaign boot camp based entirely on YouTube clips from the best movies of the century.

  20. Bree S. 2013.05.18

    Cory, I have seen some liberal arguments against Palin and Bachmann that managed to not descend into a vile pit of childish trash talk.

  21. larry kurtz 2013.05.18

    Curious where Mr. Weiland is on cannabis rights.

  22. grudznick 2013.05.18

    He's on them like Tinkerbell on Santa's lap. There are no cannabis rights. Ask my good friend Bob, or my other friend Bob.

  23. Vincent Gormley 2013.05.18

    So the best way for 'conservatives' to counter childish trash talk is obviously with vile childish trash. Hmm, never win over anyone with that nonsensical defense.

  24. grudznick 2013.05.18

    Mr. Gormley, if you knew my good friend Mr. kurtz better you would understand that he's a raging unkempt civilized man who is just trying to find out what drives your machine.

  25. Kal Lis 2013.05.18

    Cory,

    You mean we could get politicians to pay for Netflix subscriptions? Count me in.

  26. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.05.18

    Yeah, maybe even Macs with cool video editing software!

  27. SDBlue 2013.05.18

    Bree, my disdain for these women in the political arena (and the men too for that matter) has more to do with where they stand on issues, not just because they are conservative and I am a liberal. Kristi Noem was a complete and utter failure her first term. In her second term, she voted against The Violence Against Women Act, against raising the minimum wage and has no problem spending $55 Million to try and repeal Obamacare for the 37th time, while at the same time supporting a Farm Bill which cuts $20 Billion from SNAP. I do not support Michele Bachmann because she thinks gay marriage is going to bring the wrath of God down on the state of Minnesota. I do not support Sarah Palin because after a failed VP bid, quitting the governorship before her term was up, and being fired from Fox, hardly qualifies her as successful. John Thune voted against VAWA, the Bring Jobs Home Act, the Veterans Jobs Corps Act, and background checks on gun sales at gun shows. My outrage with these politicians comes from a place of knowledge and in my opinion, is completely warranted.

  28. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.05.19

    To tie our diversion to the main point, Bree is not Pat Powers. And Vinny summarizes quite aptly the nature of Pat Powers's smoke-blowing, which continues in his latest post, where he calls my logical response "looney" far-left fringism, then pretends to support his "thesis" with more rumor and specualtion from unnamed sources instead of hard evidence.

  29. SDBlue 2013.05.19

    I apologize for getting off topic, Cory. I read the Washington Post story. I so want to make people like Powers eat their words. This past week, "Umbrellagate" just about sent me over the edge. I vented here. I apologize if I offended you, Bree. How does one continue to keep up the fight and still remain sane? :)

  30. Bree S. 2013.05.19

    No problem, SDBlue - I'm not offended. It's just a minor irritation to me how conservatives and liberals treat each other sometimes. But it's easy to get emotional when we feel strongly about something. And I don't think you should apologize to Cory for going off-topic. Makes me feel guilty.

  31. Mike Chapman 2013.05.24

    South Dakota War College is humorous. I thought it was a parody when I first came across it. Now I'm just pretty sure it's a revenue stream based on the frequency of "posts without work" system used by the owner.

    I hear you on the need for Weiland to have all the website bells and whistles and have no doubt that's all coming. I'm not sure lowercase letters matter in a title as much as the ability for voters to interact and feel a part of the website when it's functional. It should become a virtual headquarters where donating time and money become easy and even enjoyable. What's up now is a tumblr site, which is obviously a placeholder. You've capitalized the t in tumblr (which just sold for a $billion plus to Yahoo) but tumblr is actually spelled in all lowercase. Maybe that's what they were thinking at the campaign when they came up with the the lowercase version of people for rick weiland. :-)

  32. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.05.24

    The last thing Rick Weiland needs right now, Mike, is anything that looks like a placeholder. He could just as easily have set up an interactive WordPress or Blogger site in the time it took to set up the Tumblr site.

    You're right, capitalization is a side issue. But I still wouldn't take my cues on running for U.S. Senate from Tumblr. You want to go to the Capitol? Use capital letters, Rick!

  33. Mike Chapman 2013.05.24

    No argument, Cory. I'm hoping they will emulate both Obama campaigns and build out a vibrant online effort that connects everyone interested. Meanwhile, I've got to say that your blog is by far the most interesting in South Dakota. I love the open debate you've fostered in your comments.

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