Election Online – The Opposition

Having got the local issues out of the way (only two candidates had blogs-something of a drawback) now seems the time to focus on party blogging across the board.

In general, the opposition parties have failed to grasp the mettle when it comes to blogging. It seems that the central leaderships have overlooked what could be a very usual promotional tool during this general election.

Instead, it has been left to individual candidates to start and maintain their own bulletin-boards. Younger or first-time candidates seem to have took this up rather than more senior politicians.

Honourable mention in this regard goes to the Labour Party, who seem to have a clear policy in this area. On every Labour blog, there is a sidebar containing hyperlinks to blogs of other Labour runners. Indeed, the Labour site (www.labour.ie) could said to be one large blog, or at least is presented in blog-style.

Labour need no excuse to court the Internet voter, and their homepage is peppered with videos of their Ard-Fhéis speeches, their advertising campaign, candidates on the campaign trail etc.

Surprisingly, Sinn Féin seems to offer very little in the way of candidate blogs. This contrasts with their website (http://www.sinnfein.ie/), which is quite modern, containing podcasts, audio and video footage, RSS feeds etc.

You would think that a party which appeals mostly to the young voters would capitalise on the medium most beloved by contemporary youth, but alas tis’ not the case. Their lack of enterprise leaves me with no choice but to exhibit this classic footage from comic Steve Coogan:

Resemble any senior SF politician?

The Socialists have been similarly slack net-wise. Long searches for a Joe Higgins’ blog proved long and fruitless. This is a shame, for Higgins is known to be one of the most entertaining orators in the Oireachtas, particularly when baiting Bertie.

Although their website http://www.socialistparty.net/ provides plenty of information on Socialist councillors, not one has had the initiative to strike out on their own.

Some, however, have campaigned by proxy. Brian Greene is working on Cllr. Clare Daly’s campaign in Dublin North, and he has produced a bitingly-sharp site here http://www.briangreene.com/bhg/category/election/ .

Alas Brian Greene seems to be carrying The Socialist Party on the web-front. This is deeply disappointing from a self-styled ‘Revolutionary Party’.

It’s a worrying sign that few of our TDs, or prospective TDs, have the gumption to use their initiative in this way.

If most display this lack of innovation in a general election campaign, what can we expect when we reach office?