Gay Rights Activists' 'Stop Nathan Deal' Campaign Taking Toll on Georgia Republican Gubernatorial Candidate

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/gay-rights-activists-stop-nathan-deal-campaign-taking-toll-on-georgia-republican-gubernatorial-1335905.htm

ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwire - October 15, 2010) - During the heated Republican primary contest for Georgia Governor last August, Congressman Nathan Deal ran a television ad that attacked YouthPride, an Atlanta charity that is dedicated to preventing suicide among glbt youth, by saying the organization "promotes homosexuality among teenagers as young as 13." While the ad may have helped Nathan Deal win the primary, it also galvanized the Georgia glbt community against him resulting in the birth of a 'Stop Nathan Deal' Google SEO Campaign that has been playing a major role in the race for governor. For Seth Woodard Persily, a gay father who volunteers on YouthPride's Board of Directors, Deal's scapegoating of the organization was more than he could take. Upon seeing the commercials for the first time, the Harvard-educated SEO guru used Facebook to quickly recruit volunteers, and then began using his SEO know-how to make Nathan Deal's character, and more specifically his ethics, more relevant in Google searches. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Persily's 'Stop Nathan Deal' campaign is having an impact. Type the Georgia candidate's name, Nathan Deal, into Google and you will see "Nathan Deal ethics" as the very next suggestion. Users who choose the ethics option are presented with several pages of information, many created by Persily and his volunteers, assailing Nathan Deal's character. The group also created and optimized several micro sites such as http://www.NathanDealEthics.com that direct visitors to pointed resources questioning Nathan Deal's character. The sites have been receiving thousands of visitors. The 'Stop Nathan Deal' Google campaign is being widely watched by political strategists and search engine optimization companies alike, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that it "may be the first campaign of its kind, one that opens an entire new field of worry for political candidates." In an interview with the AJC, the Deal campaign said it understood the importance of Persily's Google campaign and was adopting counter-measures. "As the frontrunner, we have to expect liberals to attack us. And they have to expect to be attacked in return," said Brian Robinson, spokesman for the Deal campaign. Persily, a gay father of twin girls with his partner, Nathan Woodard-Persily, said he would not back down: "Nathan Deal's decision to scapegoat the gay and lesbian community may have won him the Republican primary, but our community is not going to allow that type of hatred to go unanswered." The Stop Nathan Deal campaign is dedicated to bringing awareness of Congressman Nathan Deal's ethics scandals to Georgia voters through the use of Google SEO techniques. Volunteers are being actively recruited to assist with the campaign. Volunteers can contact the Stop Nathan Deal campaign directly at info(at)nathandealethics.com.