The significance of timeliness ... keeping websites up to date

There is no putting the toothpaste back in the tube. Not only must each political party and candidate have a web presence ... those websites must be kept up to date.

While the Missourinet and other newsrooms across the state and the country still get a lot of information from phone calls and from press releases that are placed in mailboxes, faxed, and sent via e-mail ... there is usually a need for the recipient of the info to find out more.  That information must be available on political websites.

The Constitution Party's website offers a great example of a political site NOT being updated in a timely manner. I found this example on Sunday while engaged in my morning routine of reading stories from newspapers, radio & TV, and blogs.

Steve Kraske's piece in the Kansas City Star's Prime Buzz tells of the Constitution Party National Convention in Kansas City ... and the party faithful's decision to choose Chuck Baldwin over Alan Keyes as the Constitution Party's 2008 presidential candidate.  (In case you were not aware, Keyes - a former Republican presidential hopeful - severed ties with the GOP earlier this month.)

Wanting to learn more about the Constitution Party's selection of its presidential flag-bearer, I journeyed to the party's web page. Lo and behold ... (as of Sunday, April 27th, at 9:30amCT) ... the "Latest News and Commentary" box encouraged supporters to travel to Kansas City the weekend of April 23-26 for the 2008 National Presidential Nominating Convention. One could even find a link to an online registration form. Not a word about what had happened in Kansas City!

Unlike the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian Parties ... which are considered established parties ... the Constitution Party does not enjoy automatic ballot access in Missouri. Backers of Chuck Baldwin and the Constitution Party will have to collect a sufficient number of valid signatures and present them to the Secretary of State's Office. If that happens Missourians will have the chance to vote for Chuck Baldwin in November.

But if it does happen ... and Baldwin does end up on Missouri's November ballot ... voters probably should not count on learning about it by going to the Constitution Party's website.

- Steve Walsh