Yankton Recall Recap

With David & David sworn in already and rsbailey putting aside his/her/their computer to enjoy the solstice and other co-opted pagan festivities, Kelly Hertz of the Yankton Press & Dakotan offers a good local recap of the recall. Of interest to campaigners and bloggers (and whatever strange combination of the two may evolve in 2008):

Recall organizers started newyankton.com when the petitions were being circulated, then mothballed it when the petitions were filed. I have to believe they may have second-guessed themselves on that decision during the campaign. That's a decision we probably won't see repeated [Kelly Hertz, "A Last Look at the Recall," Yankton Press & Dakotan, 2007.12.21].

The decision by Ben Hanten et al. to mothball the NewYankton.com blog was an unusual one. But it couldn't have been an accidental or casual decision. The recall organizers created the blog for a specific purpose, to get the word out, communicate with petition circulators and interested voters, and keep their petition-drive ducks in a row. They achieved that purpose, then decided not to push further with the blog. One interpretation of this move is that the recall organizers did not want to come across as shouting bullies. Rather than spend another six weeks possibly putting foot in mouth, they got what they wanted -- a public vote -- and simply put their faith in the majority to make up their own minds.

As for newyankton.info - a group that was both anonymous and "forthright" [sic] - it was an intriguing idea that turned into its own worst enemy. Claiming on a P&D blog that newyankton.info wielded a "flaming sword of justice" (and they damned me as self-righteous), one thing it didn't wield was what makes Web dialogue a democratic revelation: It didn't allow interaction and conversation. The only opinion it was interested in was its own. So, what seemed initially to be a new, smart idea turned out to rely on musty political methods that the interactive Web has rendered obsolete.

Indeed, rsbailey made the same mistake that some other bloggers are chided for: shutting out the readers. Among the keys to making blogs work are transparency and interaction. The margin of victory for the challengers suggests that Bernard and Rupiper were on the way out no matter what tactics their blog mouthpieces used. A good, interactive, transparent, authentic web presence isn't a sufficient condition for winning, but it will become increasingly necessary.

(Note to Russ -- if you're running in 2008, tell Darin to set you up a blog!)