(The following post authored by Kevin Curry appeared on the front page at www.TheNextRight.com on July 31)

Rick Dancer, the Republican nominee for Oregon Secretary of State, has been chronicling his campaign travels across the state via web videos on his campaign site. As a down ballot race for an office most people have no clue about what they do, Dancer is using his web videos to tell people about Oregon, give them exposure to who he is, and weave in campaign issues.

Dancer is also playing to his strengths: He’s a former, longtime news anchor/reporter from Eugene.

His opponent is a longtime Democratic politician, State Sen. Kate Brown, who is the Senate Majority Leader. As a blue state, most pundits and insiders think she has it locked up after winning a four-way Democratic primary. She seems to think this as well: she seems to be coasting, her website hasn’t been updated since the Primary and Dancer has outraised her significantly since then.

But Dancer has been working hard to make this a race and his web videos are a key component. He complements them with an active online presence via his written blog, Twitter posts, and a Facebook page. On all of these he is candid, open about the ups and downs of campaigning, and decidedly a non-politician. It’s the perfect juxtaposition to the 16+ years his opponent has spent as a Democratic political insider.

The contrast between the online presence of Dancer and Brown is sharp. Dancer’s videos show him traversing the state, meeting voters and learning about their issues. Brown’s videos are primarily her campaign commercials and endorsement videos from liberal groups and politicians. And nothing new since May.

In a state as blue as Oregon, Dancer is definitely the underdog. But his online presence gives him the opportunity to connect with voters across the state and he is taking full and effective advantage of it.

(Disclosure: Command Consulting has assisted the Dancer campaign with production of collateral material.)

Nike did just that this summer at the Olympic Trials in Eugene. Instead of some normal, boring presentation tent, they did this:

That is one of three retrofitted, old school VW buses they used as displays. The idea came to a staffer about six weeks before the trials and eventually made it up to Phil Knight himself. He greenlit it like that.

I suspect more people took photos of this display than any other. And probably told more people about how cool it was.

Be different. Stand out.