2 October 2016

Notice and warning to candidates

Especially to legislative candidates in northwest Montana. Beginning later this week, or early next week, Flathead Memo will begin posting profiles of key election contests.

The basis of each profile will be the platforms of the candidates. I expect serious candidates in competitive elections to have a dedicated domain name website — Facebook pages don’t count — with a main menu issues page that presents the candidate’s positions clearly in an orderly fashion. If serious candidates do not have a website with an issues page, I will conclude that:

1. The candidate's positions on the issues are identical to the planks in the platforms of the candidate's state and national political parties.


2. The candidate is deliberately withholding information from the general public, and is disposed to tell the voters as little as possible.

It’s October, but it’s not too late to register a domain name and put up a campaign website with a detailed issues page. It only takes a couple of hours and costs less than $50. There is no legitimate argument for serious candidates not having a dedicated domain name campaign website.

Meanwhile, candidates can, if they wish, use email — use Flathead Memo’s feedback link — to send me their official platform and other information.