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What’s
in a Domain Name?
Common
Council candidate’s online hijinks put spotlight on attention
to detail—and on his own campaign’s “silly” tactics
When
Albany Ward 8 Com- mon Council candidate Craig Waltz received
a flier from rival John Rosenzweig that listed the Web address
www.rosenzweig05.com, Waltz went to see what Rosenzweig had
to say. But the Web site didn’t exist. In fact, the domain
had not even been registered.
So on June 4, Waltz snapped it up, and while he was at it,
also registered rosen zweig2005.com and sheehan2005.com (Bob
Sheehan is Waltz’s other Democratic rival).
On rosenzweig05.com he put a take off the on the Mastercard
“priceless” commercials ending with an exhortation to vote
for “a well-organized candidate.” On the 2005 sites, the window
titles were “Why Johnny Can’t Browse” and “Be Sheehan—not
heard from (lately).” All the sites redirected the browser
to Waltz’s own site.
“We’re
not looking to be mean or do dirty tricks, but we are pointing
out this is the kind of error that can occur when you don’t
pay attention to the details,” explained Waltz, of why he
targeted Rosenzweig. “We pay attention to the details. . .
. This is a man who spent a considerable amount of effort
to put out a flier and didn’t attend to the details. . . .
Next time up, let’s suppose it’s the city budget.”
Rosenzweig said that the company he had hired to do his Web
site told him Monday (July 11) that they had not completed
their assignment “in a timely fashion,” but said the problem
would be fixed. Meanwhile, he said, people would vote for
him “because I sat in their kitchen and talked to them, not
because I was sitting behind a computer. I don’t think the
people of the 8th Ward are going to want someone who would
run this type of campaign representing them.”
Sheehan, who has his own site at www.votebobsheehan.com and
had never intended to register sheehan2005.com, finds the
whole thing “silly.” “What other word can you come up with?”
he said. “It’s not the end of the world, but it’s foolish
for a candidate to be spending time on this.”
Waltz said he had snapped up shee han2005.com only in order
to say “We’re out here” until Sheehan had his own site up
and running. “Bob made no error like Rosenzweig,” he said.
“He never promoted [that domain]. Bob Sheehan and I have no
problem at all.” However, it seems that Waltz had not attended
to all of his details before calling attention to his handiwork,
for sheehan2005.com was still redirecting to his own site
until Monday afternoon, three weeks after Sheehan’s site went
live.
Waltz said he had spoken with Sheehan and would be offering
to have shee han2005.com redirect to Sheehan’s actual site.
—Miriam
Axel-Lute
maxel-lute@metroland.net
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| What
a Week |
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Let’s
Not Talk About It
The town of Yelm, Wash., has developed a unique
approach to deal with the debate over a proposed
Wal-Mart. Frustrated council members have prohibited
use of the word Wal-Mart or any other big-box-store
name during meetings. The practice has drawn the
attention of the American Civil Liberties Union,
which says that all citizens have the right to
air their views in public meetings. The ACLU is
also concerned that the council of Pierce County,
where Yelm resides, has adopted a public-comment
rule that “speakers may not attack or make an
allusion to the motives of any council member.”
Sarge, I’m a Governor’s Son
Gov. George Pataki, Iraq-war booster of boosters,
doesn’t seem to think the war effort is important
enough to require one particular second lieutenant
to serve in the marines. That would be his son,
whom Pataki wants to get a deferment in order
to go to law school, despite his recent choice
to complete the Marine Officers’ Training program.
Green’s Not Just a Last Name, You Know
Political analyst and onetime actor in commercials
Mark Grimm told Capital News 9 that Alice Green’s
entry into Albany’s mayoral race would split the
minority vote. Except that Archie Goodbee, the
only other candidate likely to appeal strongly
to minority voters, is running against Mayor Jennings
in a September primary, whereas Green, running
as a Green Party candidate, will face off with
the primary winner in November.
Rove, Rove, Rove Your Boat
Will it stick this time? The latest round of administration
deceit seems to have shaken even the White House
Press Corps awake. When the leak of Valerie Plame’s
identity as a CIA operative came about, President
Bush firmly stated that anyone involved in it
would be fired. And so, the recent revelation
that advisor and strategist extraordinaire Karl
Rove did exactly that has people howling for Rove’s
canning. Stay tuned for continued squirming.
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| Overheard |
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Overheard:
"So
I gave him $50 for 'cheese' from Vermont, and
he brought back $50 worth of actual cheese! It
was damn good cheese though."
—late
night at the Old Songs Festival campground
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Hi
Ho, Hi Ho
Kids
at the Ten Broeck Mansion’s weeklong Summer Acheology
Camp participate in an archeological dig on the site
of the Mansion’s barn and carriage house, both built
in 1790. With the assistance of Hartgen Archeological
Associates, the kids discovered bones, nails, and other
artifacts on Tuesday, their first day of digging.
photo:Alicia Solsman
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Columns
& Opinions
