As the Washington Post reported, this past weekend visitors to Rudy Giuliani's campaign website (www.joinrudy2008.com) came face-to-face with a placeholder which read, "Happy Labor Day Weekend! JoinRudy2008.com is down temporarily and will be live again soon with an improved look." Why the re-launch? Getting lapped by Fred because of a primitive platform was probably a significant boost to the argument constantly being made by the online team.

The bad news for Rudy was that placeholder was the only thing on the site. Not even an email capture or a link to a donate page made the static page. Energy lost. The decision had been made to yank the site before the new one had finished cooking and the Post nailed them for it.

The good news for Rudy is that Labor Day weekend is over and the modern site is up-and-running. Let's have a look under the hood and see what we can find...

OVERALL
I'm not jumping up-and-down with excitement and calling this a model for success in the modern world, but the new site is a step in the right direction. But perhaps more importantly then what is happening on his site, Rudy now has a real and honest presence off his site (where we all spend most of our time). In fact, he's finally hanging out with us in both facebook and myspace, and their YouTube channel has some interesting content thanks to a young, campaign operative named Dan Meyers who is hosting a series called, "Running with Rudy." (Note: Meyers also visibly maintains the presence in the socnets.)

In other words, their online strategy appears to be transforming in to one that is modern, effective, and relevant on the 2008 campaign trail.

WEBSITE
I might just be getting used to seeing these things, but like most campaign websites, nothing special stands out at me as remarkable or will keep me personally coming back for more. It's fine. He's capturing emails, he's got a "blog" that isn't really a blog, and he's funneling people quickly in to the area they want to be in. They're doing what needs to be done - finally.

My eyes were quickly drawn to the socnet section because the all too familiar flickr logo popped off the page. And then I noticed their National House Party Night icon which will feature a live webcast with Rudy on September 26 (good placement for exposure).

OFF-SITE
Of course, what I'm most concerned about isn't what's on the site, but what they're doing in the real, modern world. After all, I'll likely never personally go back to his site, but I've got loads of "friends" that love the guy so it'll be interesting to see how Rudy can motivate his network of supporters to promote him among their network of friends. I like the idea of having one personality, Dan Meyers, "be" Rudy Giuliani in socnets. Back in 2006 I used the moniker "spokesblogger" because I was a spokesman for Republicans in the blogosphere. I think Dan is similarly emerging as the first in a new role for online political operatives. And, of course, I would be remiss not to note in this space that Rudy's myspace privacy setting is finally turned off.

CONCLUSION
Back in July I offered five tips to Rudy to get his online game running strong. If all five of those haven't already been addressed, they're well on their way to doing so (before it's too late). A dollop of porridge to Katie Harbath and the rest of Team Giuliani.

Welcome to the modern world. We've been saving a seat for you.

I joined a number of conservative bloggers today for a rollout of “The New NRCC.org” website. Chairman Tom Cole, along with his modern media guy (and TechRepublican contributor), Josh Shultz, were on-hand to walk us through the platform.

While they’re branding it, “The New NRCC.org,” I’m going to do them a favor and call it the NRCC’s “modern” platform. You’ve heard it from me before, but “modern” is the new “new.”

The importance of having an effective website for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) isn’t to replace Google or facebook as your Number One destination. It’s not even to become a new “first” destination for conservative activists throughout the country.

It’s to lead. By example.

Josh Shultz said, “The good news about the website, is that it’s generating buzz about what’s going on at the NRCC. Previously, the NRCC had a web presence, but now Members know we have a web priority.”

I like the sound of that.

Currently, most House Republicans could care less about their online operation. Their site resembles that of an online glossy flyer which I'd throw out just as quickly if it landed on my doorstep. But more and more House Republicans are starting to pay attention to the modern world because they realize their survival depends on it. They're interested in seeing a good example of what they should be doing online.

So what the NRCC website should and likely will do, is be a model of what a campaign should be doing to better connect Republicans with their constituents. They’ll be the research-and-development wing for House Republicans, and then pass along their best practices to campaigns. Make a few "mistakes" and get pinged by conservative bloggers for it? Sure. But as I always say, if you want to play in the mud, you're going to get a little dirty.

And that’s what Congressman Tom Cole and his communications team has started doing with the launch of the modern platform.

My overall impressions are positive. The coordinated effort places a premium on web video, which interests me most. They’ve already posted 15 YouTube-only web ads, garnering 70K views of their videos.

The site is also chock-full of opposition research which “sets the record straight” and helps “keep the Democrats accountable.” This is a great complement to another website I’m working on, MajorityAP.com, which is the Right’s first independent news service focusing like a laser on the House and Senate majorities.

The NRCC communications team understands that while their perspective is helpful to the discussion, a “30,000 foot perspective of the playing field,” they’re actively reaching out to local bloggers and activists throughout the nation to add district-specific content to their group blog. This is a good first-step to really making a difference on the ground in these pivotal districts.

To help launch the site, they’ve placed a media buy on Townhall.com and other conservative blogs which leads conservative activists back to a poll. Online polls are a great way to encourage people to “do something” on your website and a great way to harvest email addresses for later use. The paid buy along with their conservative blogger outreach today is a great one-two combination for getting buzz going about their online efforts.

When it comes to social networking, the NRCC is there too. They’re linking directly to their profiles at twitter, facebook, myspace, and YouTube which is one of my top rules of using social networking sites effectively.

The site smartly lists several RSS feeds for the different content they’re producing: News items, blog posts, press releases, and new videos. Out of the four, there’s only one I’ll subscribe to, and it’s smart to give me, the consumer, that choice.

All in all, I give snaps, praise, and even a scoop of coveted porridge to the NRCC. Room for improvement? Absolutely, but I’m confident they’ll figure out the formula that works best and tweak accordingly.