Known by their friends as Emily Dietsch and Elizabeth Strout, the Polichicks have garnered quick recognition among bloggers, reporters, and political types. In August, Dietsch and Stout pooled their visions to create a Web site (www.polichick.com) that brought videotaped Rhode Island political debates, from both primary contests and general elections, to the public in an easily accessible format.
The duo created their Web site so busy voters can easily watch political debates online, and, hopefully, make better-informed decisions on Election Day. “We created the Web site to raise everyone’s awareness [of the issues],” Strout says. “We want people who don’t spend hours a day researching [political issues] to have a way to easily access the candidates and the issues.”
Inspired to create their site by the mega video-sharing YouTube, Strout and Dietsch nonetheless describe their idea as unique. YouTube doesn’t present the issues in the same way as Polichick.com, they say. Some viewers do not want to have to search for the debates — they want them more accessibly, says Dietsch. While there is no way to know how many people have visited and utilized polichick.com, Dietsch and Strout continually hear from people who have seen the site. “We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback and recognition for the site, so people are evidently using it,” Strout says.
It used to be that friends of Dietsch, a 2006 graduate of Brown University, and Strout, a senior at Johnson & Wales, were more interested in politics. Now, however, their graduated pals are astonished to learn how they are not just Emily and Elizabeth, but the famous “Polichicks.” “Our friends with these political jobs in Washington will call us and be like, ‘What are you doing? How come you didn’t tell me you were doing this site?’ ” Dietsch says.
As a result of the positive recognition, politicians and their staffs have approached the Polichicks to take on media development and consulting tasks. “Media savvy is one of the things we have found is really most important in a campaign,” notes Dietsch, describing how Governor Donald L. Carcieri was able to answer the duo’s questions more casually, while his Democratic challenger, Charles Fogarty, “was not very welcoming and very guarded.”
Currently, Dietsch is applying to graduate schools, while Strout does not have concrete post-graduation plans. The fate of their Web site is itself uncertain at the moment. “It’s been chaotic and hectic,” Strout says. “Our friends ask where we’ve been for the past few months. I say, ‘Well, while you were enjoying that nice nap, I was hard at work.’ ”
