Sites:
www.chafeeforsenate.com
www.licht2000.org
www.weygand.com
Reviewers: Dr. Darrell West, a professor of political science and public policy at Brown University and director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy
Dr. Stephen C. Wood, a professor of communications studies at the University of Rhode Island
The competition for the U.S. Senate seat exists in several different arenas, the newest of which is the Web. How are Rhode Island’s candidates, Congressman Robert Weygand, Former Lt. Gov. Richard Licht and incumbent U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee, measuring up against each other, and which candidate’s staff has the most savvy in this young medium?
West said he liked Licht2000.org the best.
“My overall assessment is that Licht has the best, followed by Weygand and then Chafee a distant third.”
Wood seemed to agree about Chafee, but preferred Weygand’s site to Licht’s.
”The Chafee site is the weakest,” he said, “In terms of overall effectiveness I would rank the Weygand site first based on initial impressions, substance and style.”
Why do the professors unanimously find Chafee’s site so weak?
Wood said the gaudy color scheme of green with blue, white and purple elements distract from the content of the site and make it look “comic-bookish.”
He also noted that “calendar” was misspelled as “callendar” on the homepage, the fact that the “contributions” section was under construction, fonts were difficult to read, and issues lacked detail and analysis. He also said he did not think that whoever put the site together selected the best available photo of Chafee.
West noted, in addition to the fact that the spot on the site showing visitors how to contribute was under construction, that the site had no foreign language translation of the text.
West found fault with the fact that the Weygand site had no foreign translation either.
”Weygand’s site is good,” he said, “but does not offer the advanced technological features of Licht’s site.”
Wood said that Weygand’s people also neglected to select the best photo of him, and probably only selected the one that they did because John F. Kennedy is featured in the background. He praised the design scheme of the site, the blue splash page with red and white elements, the design of which fades into subtlety in subsequent pages.
”His color scheme, the best of the three, shifts slightly for the internal pages to white as the dominating color with red and blue elements,” said Wood, “Red, white and blue, it’s more than patriotic, it’s more than a cliché political color scheme, it’s an excellent color scheme for digital campaigning.”
Wood found Weygand’s drop box inviting the viewers to contribute or volunteer to be irritating. He also said that the insight on 14 issues in both his “record” section and his “accomplishments” section was duplicative, but it is better than nothing.
”Weygand is issue intensive or strategically overcommitted depending on your point of view,” said Wood, but “as a repository of candidate information, the Weygand site offers the viewer a rich and fairly detailed resource.”
West, who prefers Licht’s site, found it to be the most comprehensive of the three candidates.
”Licht’s site is very well-developed,” he said. “It takes advantage of the latest technology and has a number of advanced features.”
What West liked best was the site’s translation into Portuguese and Spanish, the video streaming ads and the ability to register for automatic electronic updates.
”This is a state of the art Web site that uses technology in very creative ways,” West said.
Wood also liked the Licht site for its tech status, but found flaws in the design.
”Despite the offending colors, the Licht homepage takes the technical accolades from among the three because it links to two television ads he is running on Medicare Prescription reform,” Wood said.
Wood noted on the homepage, the red, white and blue mixed with green and yellow had the effect of making the candidate’s skin look green, although he found the picture of Licht to be a flattering one.
Wood found a flaw in the fact that the only issue addressed in depth on Licht’s site was the Medicare issue. He said Licht was even more “issue-light” than Weygand, although looking at the “agenda” section would lead a viewer of the site to believe otherwise.
”If you look at the ‘agenda’ section, you find five issues mentioned briefly with a promise that these and other issues will be detailed in the issues section,” said Wood, ”They are notThe Web site promises more than it deliversThe Licht campaign seems to be running the issues part of his Web site like one big electronic bumper sticker.”
In summary, West was perturbed by the fact that none of the sites showed a privacy or security policy or had features that make them accessible to the handicapped such as TTY/TD phone connections.
Wood said he doubted any of the sites would prompt repeated visits by undecided voters. He also suggested that in these early stages of the Web, none of these sites was successful as a well-executed political Web site.
”Certainly the Web sites will not change many votes,” he said.
Editor’s note: Our Webway’s series has changed its format. Each month we will feature different guest reviewers specific to their industry, sharing comments on certain sites. To be considered please e-mail your qualifications and site ideas to Patrick@pbn.com.
