Web Campaign in Cork North Central
Image owned by DeclanTM
Ian Gallagher, Green Party candidate for the Cork North Central ward, has launched a website at CorkCity.tv in his bid to clinch a seat on the city council. Now aside from the fact that it would be something of minor miracle for him to secure election in an already crowded race and in a territory where the Green Party generally fare quite poorly, it does bring a new dimension to a local election race – a fully functioning website with all the important elements, blog, photos, press releases and most interestingly video presentations of all his policy proposals – virtual canvassing in essence.
Those attuned to the make-up of the constituency however would point out that an online campaign is probably most ineffecitive in a ward such as Cork North Central, to quote some facts from the Constituency Profiles published by Oireachtas researchers (referring to the entire Dáil constituency but still relevant):
Households in Cork North-Central are less likely to have a PC (51.4% vs. 56.6%) and access to the Internet (41.5% vs. 46.7%) than other households in the State. However, the share of households with broadband is close to the national average.In 2006, 18.9% of households in Cork North-Central had broadband Internet access compared with 20% for the State as a whole. (pdf)
Somehow I still think the tried and trusted method of pressing the flesh on door to door canvasses, backed up with a prompt and efficient handling of queries is the only way that shall give the candidate a fighting chance on polling day. The internet has a role to play in all modern political campaigns but at present it should represent a minor portion of the campaign rather than becoming the main tool the candidate relies upon.
Tags: Cork, Cork City Council, Green Party, Ian Gallagher, Internet Campaign, Local Elections
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.