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I guess if I'm doing corrections, I should make sure I use precise language. Correcting myself that Dwain Lingenfelter's Google Maps mash-up isn't misleading isn't entirely accurate either. It *is* misleading, just not in the way that I said it was.

It's not misleading in that it contains information about non-existent events as I originally thought. But it *is* misleading in that the map has poor usability and is potentially confusing for users - an issue that could have consequences for the Lingenfelter campaign. At the least, visitors to his campaign web site may click on the wrong spot on the map and think there's no event in their community, just a placeholder push pin (even when there is an event.) At the worst, they may make the same mistake I did and think that there are a lot less events happening than appears to be and think there is something fishy going on.

On another note, Kent has replied to my correction saying I should delete the post. That's not something I believe in and it's not going to happen. I posted what I posted, when I was corrected, I admitted that I made a mistake. But the record of these events should remain for a couple reasons.

I stand by the rest of my criticisms in that post and also think it's important to see the response that my post engendered from him. In all of our back and forth - and there's been a lot as I can't post a comment without getting yet another response from Kent - I have never resorted to personal attacks or questioning his motives.

In my last post, for whatever reason, Kent has stooped to the level of calling me Karl Rove - a pretty extreme attack for what was an honest mistake.

As I said, I still stand by my other criticisms of some of the things Lingenfelter is doing online. I have claimed that, to me, this appears to just be moving "politics as usual" online and I would also say that deleting a post to whitewash something that's happened is also "politics as usual" - and also shows that Kent doesn't understand quite how the internet works. The moment I hit "post" on my blog, the content goes out to Google and dozens of other sites/readers/subscribers/etc. and is impossible to "delete", even if that's something I was inclined to do.

Kent, since I know you're reading this, here's my challenge. I did a legitimate list giving five reasons I thought Dwain Lingenfelter would make the best leader for the Saskatchewan NDP. Can you do a similar list for Ryan Meili?

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Correction: Dwain Lingenfelter's Google Mash-up Map Isn't Misleading

by Jason on Sun 29 Mar 2009 09:03 AM CST

Loyal reader, Kent posted a comment in response to my last post about Dwain Lingenfelter's Google Map mash-up to tell me that I was wrong - the map does work and every push pin does have information about an event, you just have to click on the right *spot* on the push pin.

I'm big enough to admit when I'm wrong so I'll admit that now. But because he made some pretty harsh accusations about my motives in his comments, I'd also like to explain why I drew attention to this.

As I said in my response to Kent's comments, this is something I probably wouldn't even have noticed or tried to draw attention to except for the fact that there is a history of this type of digital expectation-setting already happening with the Lingenfelter campaign - first, with the number of supporters Lingenfelter has from outside the country on his Facebook fan page and then with the gaming of the ActUpInSask leadership poll.

Kent accuses me of ignoring the fact that other campaigns (Meili's and Pedersen's) are engaged in the same activities but I pointed out to him that I never excused this. I admitted that both campaigns are also doing similar things.

My major problem is that Lingenfelter is doing this to a much larger extent - while both Pedersen and Meili have supporters from outside the province on their Facebook pages, neither has such a concentrated group of not only non-Saskatchewan folks but non-Canadian as well. Same thing with the leadership poll - all have gamed it to some degree (to the point that I think it hurts Act Up's credibility that they even host it to be honest) but Lingenfelter's supporters appear to have done it a much greater degree than any other candidate.

The other problem is that this reinforces my point that Lingenfelter represents politics as usual in many ways. This is only my impression but it seems that his campaign is so concerned with cementing their front runner status that they are doing things like this to ensure that they are seen as the front-runner *everywhere*.

Anyhow, as penance, I thought I'd post a list of reasons why Lingenfelter would be a good leader for the NDP:

FIVE REASONS DWAIN LINGENFELTER WOULD MAKE A GOOD NDP LEADER
1. Dwain Lingenfelter's political experience stretches back over three decades so he'd bring unmatched history to the position of NDP leader.
2. His time working in government relations for Nexen Energy has allowed him to see the other side of the lobbyist game so that he will be well-positioned to make decisions based on what's best for the citizens of this province when he's leader of the NDP rather than what's best for lobbyists and corporations.
3. He has the support of the a large number of NDP MLA's so that makes a strong statement about who the party's upper echelon sees as their preference for leader.
4. All of the leadership candidates (except maybe Deb Higgins?) have attempted to show their connection to Saskatchewan's agricultural sector but Lingenfelter is the only one who currently runs a family farm operation.
5. This video of him playing with his kids in a hotel in Lake Louise, AB really humanizes him and reminds you that everyone has different faucets to their life - even somebody who's been in the public eye for as long as Link has.

(Stayed tuned for my list of "10 Reasons Ryan Meili Would Make a Great NDP Leader" sometime in the near future!

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