WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Mayor Launches Blog
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Mayor Otis Johnson
In a first for local mayoral candidates, Mayor Otis Johnson of Savannah has launched a blog: otisjohnsonblog.com.
Blogging is nothing new to the internet, nor to politics. In the heated 2004 presidential race, all the candidates did battle in cyberspace, and Democratic candidate Howard Dean set a new trend when he famously raised a lot of money online.
Mayor Johnson, who is up for reelection on November 6 and faces a lot of competition, says in his blog that he's looking to avoid a runoff.
"We do have a number of candidates in this race and people are predicting that there's going to be a run-off because it's going to be difficult to get 50.1% with all of the candidates," he wrote in a posting dated October 3.
"But I'd like to make history in Savannah and do it on the first run and get that 50.1%."
In the handful of blog entries Johnson has posted so far, he urges voters to spread the word about his candidacy, saying he's made progress over the last four years and wants to carry on. He also promises "an interactive dialog" with voters, with a link to send him questions and comments.
"You can't, in a city the size of Savannah, touch everybody personally," he told us. "But through the internet, you can be in touch. So I'm saying that we're creating a virtual community where we can have a conversation."
In addition to the text postings, Johnson is also using Savannah-based Evoca, a free web audio service, to post recordings for the public.
Reported by: Charles Gray, cgray@wtoc.com
