And yeah, he's on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. But who isn't these days? Being on there isn't good enough. It's about how you these tools.

For a nerd, his use is almost non-existent. I know some -- if not many politicians -- have staff who pretend to be them on Facebook or Twitter, but there's no sign that Snyder even does that. His new media presence is basically limited to a handful of generic campaign accounts on social-networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. (For the record, there was a Twitter user claiming to be Snyder, called "onetoughnerd," but the account hasn't been updated since September 18.)

Even his campaign website is average -- it isn't what you might expect someone with his budget and tech credentials.

And that's too bad, especially in this age of the internet.

Even the traditional mainstream media here in Michigan is being overrun by new media, which means Snyder is missing a tremendous opportunity. When several of the state's largest newspapers publish more original content online than in print, it's clear there's a market for new media -- making it a must in any statewide political campaign. Heck, even Snyder's hometown newspaper is now AnnArbor.com after the print edition lost so much money that it closed shop.

There's just no excuse for Snyder's rather pathetic new media operations.

And a strong presence makes up for the lack of mainstream political reporting. While MIRS and Gongwer corner the inside Lansing market, most Michiganders only have access to stories by the Associated Press or the couple political reporters the Detroit newspapers have left on the political beat. Sadly, the once strong Capitol News Corps has basically ceased to exist. (A sitting governor -- whether it's Snyder or Granholm -- is lucky to have three or four reporters at a press conference.)

This leaves an enormous vacuum for new media, especially this close to the election when people are hungry for news on what's happening.

That's where new media comes in handy. It allows a campaign to avoid what's left of the gatekeeper at the mainstream media.

Take today's endorsement of Snyder by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

How many knew about it? I didn't until late last night. There was very little media coverage on it -- at least here in the outlying areas of Michigan.

As of me writing this rant, there's no mention of the Christie endorsement on Snyder's Facebook, Flickr, YouTube or Twitter pages. Not to mention, there was no apparent outreach from Snyder's folks to us citizen pontificators even though Christie is a mega rock-star amongst many conservatives right now for his screw-you approach in New Jersey.

The only mention I could find was a few photos uploaded by would-be Michigan Republican Party chairman Bobby Shostak. (By the way, he's already openly campaigning for the job and the election hasn't even happened. We conservatives must stop him. He's a RINO, who has donated to Democrats and will be another M.I.A. chairman in the mold of His Excellency Ron Weiser.)

So with four weeks left to the election -- which reminds me, I must promote this amazing video from the Republican Governors Association that was released today -- Snyder probably won't change his new media operation.

After all, his campaign is working.

But I truly hope that a Governor/Nerd-in-Chief Snyder will listen up and not repeat these basic new media 101 mistakes in his administration.