New websites, endorsements from Vermont VIPs are the standard campaign fare of the early campaign season. The most activity so far is coming from the two Democrats who are vying for the Vermont Attorney General’s office as they bear down on the Aug. 28 primary.
Bit by bit, other candidates are getting into the press with blow by blow announcements that most Vermonters are likely ignoring in the interest of soaking up rays over the six weeks of real summer.
Last week Lt. Gov. Phil Scott announced the launch of his new website, www.philscott.org, which was designed by Four Nine Design based in Burlington.
The redesign, Scott says, is about social media.
“Even more so than two years ago, Vermonters are using Facebook and Twitter to communicate and to help shape their decision-making,” said Lt. Governor Scott. “Vermonters have often asked me questions and requested my assistance through both my official and personal Facebook pages during the last two years. I’ve also posed questions to Vermonters on those channels, and their responses are a good indication of what people are thinking. So we’ve re-tooled our website with all this in mind, and hopefully made it easier for people to connect with me.”
Social media is a numbers game and incumbents have the edge.
So far, Scott’s venture into the low stakes marketing world of Twitter and Facebook seems to be working. His online buddies number 110 and his Facebook page, which features the slogan “common man, uncommon results,” has 2,652 “likes.”
In the battle for “friends,” Scott appears to be holding his own, not only with his Democratic challenger, Cassandra Gekas, who launched her campaign a few weeks ago and has 27 friends and 156 likes (no website yet), but also with GOP gubernatorial contender Randy Brock, who boasts about 1,215 likes and 41 friends, and Gov. Peter Shumlin, who has 4,195 “likes” and 295 friends.
As for the Twitterverse, Shumlin is by far the winner with 4,852 followers to his official feed from the Fifth Floor. Brock has 145 followers; Scott has 301; and it doesn’t look like Gekas has an account yet.
While Scott touts his social media presence in his press release, what’s most notable about his website are the photos, which feature prominent Democrats: Shumlin, Rep. Peter Welch, state Sen. Dick Mazza, Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell. Nary a prominent Republican to be seen. Jim Douglas, Randy Brock, Oliver Olsen, Brian Dubie and Tom Salmon apparently didn’t make the cut.
