Apparently this web thing is all new news to Maria Cantwell's campaign- you know, our more technically savvy Senator? The Seattle Times's David Postman led me toward a brief comparison of Maria's site and Mike McGavick's penned by Jeff Maurone.

Apparently Jeff's critique had an effect, or at least was timely, because Maria has now updated her site. It seems she's now much more on track. Blog, a decent spattering of media, and a good supply of tools to use to get involved.

Democrats of Washington, let's not follow the BetterDonkey model, have consistent content at least.

Is this still a lesson to be learned? For shame. If you're a politician you should be seeding the netroots from the second you decide to run for office. Your website should be your best asset in terms of potential gains versus costs, not a liability. A ground-breaking website can be assembled for a fraction of the cost of ONE television spot. Why not kick some ass on the web? In today's climate there's no excuse not to.