Barren Web sites

I'm not much of an expert on Web sites -- I'm better versed in political matters -- but I know a bad site when I see it. So allow me to say: Baron Hill, your site sucks.\nHill, the disposed congressman who represented the 9th district for three terms, seems the likely frontrunner in the four-way May 2 Democratic primary. If nominated, as I imagine he will be, he will face Republican Rep. Mike Sodrel for the third time in three elections.\nI'm no fan of Sodrel, who has become exactly what I expected him to be -- a toady lockstep behind the president and the Republican congressional leadership on almost every issue. But I'm not much of a Hill fan, either. I held my nose and voted for him in 2004. But this year, after reviewing Hill's anemic campaign Web site -- the alliterative www.bringbackbaron.com -- I'm going to have to vote for someone else.\nIt's not that his site's design is flawed. It loads promptly and is full of pictures of fields of corn and Hill glad-handing voters. As political sites go, it's standard fare.\nExcept for one thing. You could spend an hour on the site and still not know where Hill stands on the issues.\nThe information about Hill is out there; it's just hidden from his Web site. He filled out Project Vote Smart's issue guide for the 2004 campaign, which was vague but nonetheless tried to hone in on where he stands. This year he seems content to lay low and avoid issues on his site until he has the nomination, after which he'll continue to lay low and hope anti-Republican sentiment will make people to vote against Sodrel (and not really for him). \nThe Internet is one of the most valuable tools in political campaigns, both in how candidates can reach voters and how voters can research candidates. But more and more it's a race to mediocrity, and candidates are shying away from any kind of "Issues" section on their sites that establishes what they believe and how they might vote, besides an "R" or "D" next to their names. Hill has moderated himself to the point he can't be scrutinized because you don't know what he thinks.\nFor his part, Sodrel's staff seems to have done a decent job providing info. Sodrel didn't fill out Project Vote Smart's issue guide in 2004, but at least his congressional site, http://sodrel.house.gov, has some more detailed positions in votes he has cast and stands he has taken while in the House. Hill should follow suit. There's still a month before the primary, and seven months before the general election, and that's plenty of time to get issues posted on his Web site. \nBarring any revelatory action on Hill's part, I'm going to cast my primary vote for Gretchen Clearwater. Her site, www.clearwaterforcongress.com, contains a valuable "Issues" section outlining what she believes and what specific actions she might take or specific votes she might cast to address the issue. I don't agree with everything position she takes, and she's probably too liberal to win in this district that President Bush carried handily. But she's got the brass to post on her own Web site what she believes. Right now, that's more than you can say about Baron Hill.