Franklin Roosevelt turned radio into a political ally with his fireside chats. John F. Kennedy, and later Ronald Reagan, did the same with television. And for the last decade, politicians have scrambled to figure out how they could exploit the Internet for political gain.
Howard Dean proved in 2004 that the Web could be effective in raising money, but now Colorado’s gubernatorial candidates are also hoping to use it to win friends and influence people.
Former University of Denver President Marc Holtzman is reaching out to college students through his studentsforholtzman .com website and what’s known as Facebook, an online directory that “connects people through social networks at schools.” It’s wildly popular on campuses and has linked up more than 200 conservative students with his campaign.
GOP rival Bob Beauprez‘s camp is experimenting with podcasts, where visitors to the congressman’s website (www.bobbeauprez.com) can download audio snippets of Beauprez talking about issues.
Holtzman also has a network set up to send text messages to the cellphones of college students, alerting them to rallies and events – a novel way to reach young people using the technology they use.
Both men are attempting blogs, but with varying degrees of success. Holtzman’s campaign diary hasn’t been updated in weeks, and Beauprez’s is being written by staffers.
Democrat Bill Ritter plans to have a blog up and running soon at www.ritterforgovernor.com, which he will write himself.
Let the jockeying begin
When state Sen. Dan Grossman announced he wouldn’t run for re-election, two Denver Dems – state Rep. Fran Coleman and Jennifer Melo, who lost a tight statewide race for University of Colorado regent in 2004 – quickly lined up to replace him. Rumors also have circulated that Chris Romer, son of former Gov. Roy Romer, is interested in the seat. Trouble is, he doesn’t live in the district.
In U.S. congressional races, candidates don’t have to live in the district, so carpetbagging is legal. But state law says a candidate for state Senate must be eligible to vote in that district.
For what it’s worth, Romer has changed his voter registration address to list his mom’s house, which is, in fact, in the district.
Man bites dog
Democrats actually killed a bill last week in committee that was supported by the Colorado Education Association. It was the first time in recent memory that a bill backed by the teachers union was dissed unanimously by Democrats and supported unanimously by Republicans, causing a few jaws to drop. It would have provided $20 million from the State Education Fund for capital funding for cash-strapped schools in the Lower Arkansas and San Luis valleys.
One to watch
The Washington Post’s political blog The Fix (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/) lists Colorado’s 7th Congressional District race as the most competitive House race in the country, calling it the Democrats best chance for picking up a seat in November. The district went for Democrat John Kerry 51 percent to 48 percent in 2004. The Fix gives the edge to either Democrat Ed Perlmutter or Peggy Lamm over Republican Rick O’Donnell. The Post also neglects to mention, as this Post sometimes does, that professor and Democrat Herb Rubenstein also is running.
How do you spell money?
No coincidence, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will join the long line of Bush cabinet members who have trekked here to raise cash for O’Donnell. She’ll speak at $250 a plate breakfast fundraiser for the outgoing higher ed chief Feb. 23.
Place your bids, Steelers
Gov. Bill Owens lost a bet and was forced to wear a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey for a day, but he’s getting the last laugh. The guv autographed the jersey and put it up for bid on eBay Friday. All proceeds will go to … Denver apharities. Take that, Steelers. As of Sunday, the high bid was $610.
Wonder how much it would have fetched had he not signed it?
Dan Haley (dhaley@denverpost.com) is a member of The Post’s editorial board.
