Stricherz Posts Website: All District 8 Candidates Online!

Finally, a campaign website from District 8 House candidate Patricia K. Stricherz! I know that the Internet hasn't become a central part of campaigning in South Dakota state politics yet, even in our hundred-mile-long district. But for us bloggers, being able to direct readers to candidate websites is a great relief, an easy way for us to back up our arguments with a quick link that says, "See for yourself!" It may represent a watershed moment for local politics when all of our candidates for Legislature have fucntional websites. Forward the e-revolution! (Curious: how many districts in South Dakota still have candidates who haven't built websites?)

Stricherz's website is not as flashy as the standard-issue CreditSoup sites for fellow GOP House candidate Jerry Johnson and GOP Senate candidate Russell Olson. She also didn't go the route of her Dem opponent Mitch Fargen or Dem Senate candidate Scott Parsley, who both are using pre-built software (Facebook and Wordpress). Instead, Stricherz appears to be using a wholly home-built website, much like Dem House candidate Gerry Lange.

Stricherz's website could serve her campaign well: she finally publishes her rather compelling biography. Her issues page is all abortion, adoption, gays, and vets, which doesn't do much for outlining a practical legislative agenda on education, energy, and economic development but could resonate with some voters who haven't gotten to know her yet. Adoption and vets issues at least show Stricherz's desire to do real good for her neighbors, although I'm still unclear on what role the state legislature can take in vets issues when the federal government does most of the work there.

If I knew more people in District 8 were actually reading the Web, I might have to raise Stricherz's odds from 10:1 to 9:1. We'll see....