With the launch of David FitzGerald’s campaign website, the Local Elections are set for an Obama type makeover. The busy new Fine Gael candidate kicked off the campaign season with his website launch with Phil Hogan TD and Senator John Paul Phelan. The site is aimed at keeping the electorate up to date on campaign news and provides a useful source of information on his press releases, photographs, and opinions.
“Electioneering has changed significantly over the years with voters relying more and more on the internet to get information about the candidates. The recent US elections have set the benchmark for the use of web technology as an important tool to interact with the voters, says FitzGerald. With the advent of Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, and blogs, the election process has become more sophisticated.
Political websites typically include policy updates, news items, and the latest campaign photographs. “We have included a web feed facility and links to the main sharing sites such as Facebook to allow the easy upload of articles to other portals. We update the site regularly and the web feed service sends an e-mail to registered users when the update is entered” FitzGerald added.
Despite all this new technology, FitzGerald assures us that he is canvassing door to door in order to meet the electorate. “The internet can never replace the importance of meeting people on a one to one.” With nearly 23,000 registered voters in the Kilkenny city area and more than 20 candidates seeking the 12 Borough Council seats, the political parties will have their work cut out to reach all the voters. David FitzGerald’s web site is www.davidfitzgerald.ie
