As a self-described political “outsider” with less clout thanhis Democratic primary election opponent, Montgomery County Council candidate Hans Riemer sent an e-mail to a local blogger to drum up some grassroots support.
It might have worked.
The account of his encounter turned up on the “Just Up The Pike” blog in an entry titled “Eating Pho with Hans Riemer.”
“The fact he’s reaching out to the blogging community in Montgomery County says a lot about his commitment to his adopted home, and I think it will play well in the coming months,” Dan Reed, the 18-year-old blogger behind the site, wrote in the post Thursday.
As was the case in the 2004 presidential election, bloggers in Montgomery County are beginning to change the face of the electoral process in a jurisdiction where it is not unusual for a candidate to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for election to a local seat. An informal count turned up around eight such bloggers, or people who write what are essentially online journals.
And with more than two dozen people vying for the council’s nine available seats, the bloggers provide an outlet through which some candidates find it is easy to be heard.
“The blogs are giving me an open forum,” said Independent County Executive candidate Robin Ficker, a frequent commentator on local blogs including MoCo Progressive and MoCo Politics.
Though Ficker does not operate a blog on his campaign Web site, Riemer, a political director for Rock the Vote during the 2004 election, is no stranger to their effectiveness and operates a blog on his campaign Web site.
Riemer is considered by many to be running a tight race with Montgomery County School Board member Valerie Ervin for the District 5 seat. Ervin’s campaign, which also features a blog on its Web site, did not respond to a phone message for this story left Monday.
“There’s only so much room in the mainstream press for your message,” Riemer said. “Most of the time, you’re lucky to get one line.”
It’s not clear how many people read the blogs. An election prediction posted on MoCo Politics July 19 had generated 46 comments as of Monday. Meanwhile, Reed’s account of his meal with Riemer did not generate any comments, though the campaign Web site now links to it.
Reed, a sophomore studying architecture at the University of Maryland who started his blog in May, has “no idea” as to the effect he may or may not be having.
“I can only judge by the number of comments I got,” he said, “and the most I ever got was about seven.”
