WebProNews

Potential Republican Presidential candidate Fred Thompson has a website that should be a model for anyone aspiring to political office. Well over a year remains before the 2008 Presidential election takes place. Candidates like Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, and John McCain have been staking out spots online, with the aid of their campaign machines, in the hopes of engaging voters.

At this early date, money remains the first, second, third, and probably twenty-fourth most significant concern for White House aspirants. The Thompson website, I'm With Fred, features links to donate and raise funds should the actor/Senator pursue a bid for the Presidency, just as the other candidates do.

His organization has opted for a slightly different approach to the Web. Thompson's website doesn't have the dizzying array of content blocks the other candidates we mentioned have posted. His main content section is a blog, kept up to date by an administrator at times when the candidate himself isn't posting.

The important concept Thompson's people seem to get is the need to have their supporters engage traditional media. His site features specific links to encourage people to write to newspaper editors or call talk radio.

Those two sections allow the visitor to pick a state followed by a media market. A results page shows the options available for contacting the media outlet of choice.

It's easy to give the Internet too much credit for what it can do in building support for an issue, and to give mainstream media too little. Thompson's people recognized this and built support for the old media into their new media.

Whether that's an election breaker or not will be seen in 16 months.