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Council candidates Forget sign waving. Put away the yard signs.
take campaigns
to the Web
Sites allow them to field
and answer questions, reach
a broader audienceBy Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-BulletinThe future of Hawaii campaigning could be on the Internet.
One sign that "the dot-com political wars" have arrived is in the Honolulu City Council's District 8 race, where three candidates have put up Web sites.
Candidate Gary Okino said his campaign invested $2,800 to hire Hubris Online to design its Web page.
Since coming online Aug. 1, the site has received at least 7,300 hits. Those who visit can find testimonials, endorsements and other information.
Okino said the site allows him to reach a broad audience with his campaign message. It also allows him to field and answer questions from voters interested in knowing his views on issues, he said.
"It's always there. It's something they can always refer to," he said.
"And I want to get feedback. It's good to know what people's concerns are."
'DOT-COM POLITICAL WAR'
Rich Nono's Web site: richnono.com
Rich Nono, one of Okino's opponents and an Internet retailer, said putting up a political Web page "levels the playing field" for his campaign.
With only about a third of the campaign money Okino has, Nono said he needed an economical way to get his message out.
Nono said he designed the page himself and paid about $35 to set it up. He also pays a monthly maintenance charge of $10. The page received over 9,000 hits during August.
Both Nono and Okino have their Web pages displayed on yard signs and banners throughout Aiea, Pearl City and Waipahu.
Nono said that his page, which carries much of the same type of content as Okino's, even helped him enlist some volunteers for sign waving and canvassing duty.
He also noted proudly that an Alvah Scott Elementary School sixth-grader was able to get his position on playground equipment and parks, as part of a school project, thanks to the Web site.
"I think what the Internet does is reinvigorate Hawaii politics because it provides a medium for people that once relied on high-budget TV and print media ads."
Dick Rowland, a third candidate for the Council seat that runs from Halawa to Waipahu, said he only has a Web site because friend Bill Sullivan offered to do it for him.
Rowland said he maybe has looked at the site once since it came up last month, emphasizing that he is "not a techie. ... I'm being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century."
One of the partners in Hubris Online, the company Okino hired to design his page, is state Rep. Brian Schatz (D, Makiki-Tantalus).
Schatz, not surprisingly, also has a Web page where voters can find out more about his bid for re-election this fall.
"I think this election is the first in Hawaii where the Web is becoming a significant part of a candidate's strategies," Schatz said.
"The advantage of the Internet is, there's interactivity: You can have some kind of relationship (with the candidate) instead of being talked at or marketed to."
City & County of Honolulu
