Gas prices may be on the rise, but Willie Nelson doesn’t mind: his Mercedes runs on vegetable oil. The legendary country music artist was interviewed on the first episode of the South Dakota Democratic Party’s new Dakota Blues podcast, during which he discussed BioWillie, his own brand of biodiesel, and how the vegetable-oil fuel can help South Dakota farmers. Nelson’s podcast is part of a series launched by the SDDP in September. They hope the downloadable audio interviews will counteract right wing radio shows prevalent in the state and engage young voters.

“The podcast is an alternative media source where we don’t have to deal with the middle man and don’t have to worry about ancillary pressures such as advertisers that might dilute the message,” said press secretary Donald Carr, who hosts the Dakota Blues show.

The podcast is one of the ways they hope to keep people returning to their site. It was launched, along with the new and improved website, including a blog, on September 2, according to the state party’s executive director Jason Schulte.

“For far too long, state parties, such as our own, have been M.I.A. in terms of what we could potentially accomplish with new media,” said Schulte. “We want to build an on-line community for Democrats and progressives in South Dakota where they can go and learn about the issues, what we are doing, and hear voices that may otherwise be left out of mainstream media.”

The election last November was a disappointment for South Dakota Democrats. Longtime Senator and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle lost his seat to Republican John Thune, whose campaign made waves by hiring a crew of bloggers who helped to influence press coverage of the election.

With only 13 more months until mid-term elections, the state party hopes the podcast will reel in needed voters for the next election. Their first podcast received 500 downloads and they will be producing a new show every two weeks. “We want to make it cool to be part of the Democratic Party and this is one of the ways to do that,” said Schulte. “We can’t just rely on the traditional form of getting the message out. We need to use new, emerging technology to try and earn votes. I think we are making a step in the right direction.”

Dakota Blues has been a collaboration of Schulte, Carr, and Elesha Peterson Carr, communication director for the SDDP. The podcast project took less than a month to come to fruition, and set-up costs were negligible according to Schulte. In the weeks prior to the launch music copyrights from local and national musicians were secured, and headline guests such as South Dakota Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth and Chris Eyre, a film director hailing from the Mount Rushmore State.

The focus of Dakota Blues is on political leaders, artists, and ordinary South Dakotans. “We try to balance politics with culture to appeal to young voters,” said Peterson Carr.
In addition to talking alternative energy with Nelson, Carr has discussed budget cuts with Dennis Wiese of the South Dakota Farm Union, rising gas prices with Congresswoman Herseth, and the “strange segregation” that exists between the state’s Native American and non-Native residents with Eyre. “I’d like to see more interface between cultures,” commented Eyre, director of Smoke Signals, while on the show.

This month’s two podcasts will feature George McGovern and a mystery Democrat announcing his candidacy for state-wide office. An email that goes out to media contacts and others details guests to be featured on each show. The party also hopes to keep people returning to the podcast by providing daily news updates and blogs on the website.

Among state political parties, the SDDP is at the forefront of utilizing podcasts, but they aren’t the only ones taking advantage of the technology. Republican Pennsylvania State Senators have been podcasting regularly since June. The Republican National Committee has two podcasts available on their website, and according to the Los Angeles Times, Senator Larry Craig, a Republican from Idaho, was the first Senator to offer a podcast on his website. The U.S. House Democrats launched a podcast in July and the Democratic National Committee will be re-launching their own shortly. In addition, former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards has been podcasting since March.

Carr predicts the use of podcasts will spread quickly in the political world. “I can produce a show in my living room with a laptop and a couple of microphones. It is an amazingly powerful tool to get a message to the people who need to hear it,” he said.