This is the first campaign we have seen with an officially recognized and at least nominally supported presence in Second Life. Other efforts are entirely volunteer-generated with little or no contact with their respective campaigns. Overall, I was impressed with Gravel's site. It has a professional feeling (not overly showy nor amateurish) and is quite functional as well.

The main building at Gravel's HQ has displays on the first floor which link to his web site and other sites (such as fairtax.org) for more information. Upstairs is a conference table and a press briefing room with information packets at each seat. On a hill behind the building, a scenic hike takes you past signs with information about Gravel's platform. At the top of the hill sits a large meeting area and very presidential monument (as phallic as any in DC).

Selected photos are below, and more (including Mr. McCallister's plush director's office) are on Flickr.

Gravel HQ (left), and information display with bonus graffiti (right)

Me and Josh interviewing Gravel's SL Coordinator:

Press briefing area (left), and conference table with obligatory American flag

Mt. Gravel

Here are some selected bits from our talk with Gravel's Second Life Coordinator:

[8:57] Astrophysicist McCallister: I am the Second Life Coordinator, not the online director for the campaign. Something Sen. Gravel has been amazing at coordinating is an organized online support team, and Second Life is one cog in that virtual machine.
[8:57] Spencer Mukherji: what are the other elements to the online campaign?
[8:59] Astrophysicist McCallister: Alright, thus far, Sen. Gravel has a very popular website, a myspace coordinator, a youtube coordinator, a blogger, a podcast team, a virb team, a facebook team, and a DFA site.
[9:01] Spencer Mukherji: so how do all of these online aspects fit it to Sen. Gravel's campaign philosophy?
[9:02] Astrophysicist McCallister: We're running a very virtual campaign. Because the web, including Second Life, myspace, youtube, has such a broad range of users, Sen. Gravel is utilizing that outreach potential to its greatest.
[9:02] Astrophysicist McCallister: We can accurately and easily communicate our message to thousands.

[9:03] Ruby Glitter: Is this sanctioned by the campaign, or actively supported or...?
[9:03] Astrophysicist McCallister: Yes, I am a campaign official, we are endorsed by Sen. Gravel himself. I've been given a Gravel e-mail, and a letter of endorsement is being drafted as we speak.
[9:03] Spencer Mukherji: are you paid?
[9:04] Ruby Glitter: What do you mean by "campaign official?"
[9:05] Astrophysicist McCallister: I am not paid, and maybe campaign official was the wrong choice of words. I am merely the Second Life Coordinator for Sen. Gravel's presidential campaign in world, but I am recognized by Sen. Gravel's Staff in functioning and serving this purpose.

[9:08] Ruby Glitter: I'm interested in your choice of location. What is "Digital Zion?"
[9:08] Astrophysicist McCallister: We chose to operate our HQ here in Digital Zion as it represents the crossroads of the future, both in the figurative and literal sense.
[9:09] Spencer Mukherji: Zion as a biblical idea, and digital as the future of that idea?
[9:09] Astrophysicist McCallister: No, not in that sense. Zion more so as a crossroads, not a religious staple.
[9:09] Spencer Mukherji: I see
[9:10] Ruby Glitter: I'm not sure if I grok that.

[9:13] Ruby Glitter: How long has this build been here?
[9:13] Astrophysicist McCallister: Our Grand Opening was on May 18th
[9:13] Spencer Mukherji: is Sen. Gravel going to check it out?
[9:13] Astrophysicist McCallister: He's been inworld a few times in exploration, and his Online Coordinator visits daily.

[9:13] Ruby Glitter: So have you had a chance to use the space? I like the meeting area there to your right.
[9:14] Astrophysicist McCallister: We used the small press area during the Grand Opening, and the large meeting area on the top of the mountain later on.
[9:15] Ruby Glitter: So this is for press here?
[9:15] Astrophysicist McCallister: Yes, Press Kits area available in front of each seat.
[9:15] Ruby Glitter: I see. Clever.

Adding another layer of confusion to this simulacrum, these virtual campaigns aren't campaigns at all — at least not in any official sense.

They are run by tech-savvy political junkies from across the country... Most have had little or no contact with the candidates or campaigns, despite their liberal use of the candidates' names, logos and likenesses in Second Life.
- CBSnews.com: Democratic '08 Hopefuls Go Virtual

Today's victim: John Edwards. I visited his new location on March 22nd, the day Elizabeth Edwards announced the recurrence of her cancer. There was a photo of her posted near the site entrance with a timely message. Last month, the Edwards group in Second Life moved their headquarters to a quiet beach setting. The previous location on the more active SL mainland was famously vandalized ("griefed") by some losers with excess time and skillz on their hands.

The new Edwards Campaign Central is located at the relatively bucolic and PG-rated Laguna Beach (SLurl). A wooden boardwalk (right) borders about half of the space, inviting visitors to cruise and enjoy pictures of the candidate interspersed with issue information and invitations to "join the e-team" or donate to the Second Life Relay for Life (a great effort).

In other corners of the site are a forum-like space (left) which I presume is used for meetings, and a "Free stuff" pavilion with boxes that can give you information about in-world activities and freebies such as Edwards t-shorts for your avatar to wear.

In the center is a tropical sort-of tiki hut (below). In the future they hope to show videos there, but right now it's just a nice place to chill out. ;-)

Given that I panned the Hillary Clinton presence in SL, I am surprised to tell you that I liked Edwards space even less. It did not give me the sense of what or who his campaign is about. The beach setting suggests a sort of luxury and leisure that are not associated with the candidate's image or policies. However, my traveling companion disagreed, saying the space felt friendly and comfortable to him.

We spent some time talking to Redaktisto Noble who is the main John Edwards organizer/manager in Second Life. He had this to say: "My personal goal is to prove to the campaign that SL can be a valuable medium for a serious campaign... I would love to have at least one, maybe several, "debates" among supporters of the various campaigns. But first they have to get a platform! :) ... I would reemphasize that we want group members to bring their ideas and add to what we have here."

As I add to this series, you can follow the pictures in my Second Life Campaigns Flickr collection. I hear there are some Republicans I need to visit and I also have to return to Barack Obama's SL office (and take pictures this time). Stay tuned.

It's important to keep in mind that all of these should be considered voter-generated (as opposed to official). In every case (as far as I know) as they have been created by volunteers who are simply enthusiastic about the candidate. The model has been "build first, ask for endorsement later." Most of these sites, including the one I review today, have not been embraced by their respective candidates.

That said, let's go see Hillary! My overarching impression of this space is that it falls easily into the most obvious stereotype of the campaign: Hillary Clinton as a strong (but cold) authority figure. I'm no aesthetic genius, but it's probably the least attractive of all the candidate spaces I've seen so far.

The central feature of the space is a stage decorated with repeating Hillary logos and surrounded by simplistic red, white, and blue, bleacher seating. The stage has a large photo of Clinton as a backdrop with lots of spotlights in front of her. I almost wondered if it was designed by the creators of the 1984 video.

Easily my favorite part of the site is the helipad behind the stage, accompanied by a motorcade of stretch limos and looked over by a police HUMV. Presumably Clinton's avatar is too important to get around like the rest of us schlumps in Second Life. But what mode of transportation could be better than flying and teleporting?

Across from the stage are some kiosks where visitors can get Hillary golf shirts and instructions on how to join the Clinton '08 group in Second Life. Next to the stage there is an office building and a strange water fountain. To be fair, in the context of SL this fountain isn't all that weird, but in the context of a presidential candidate headquarters, it's just kind of confusing at best.

Finally inside the building there are is a very typical boardroom-like setting, but very spare and unsophisticated in design. (The carpet really offended my design sensibilities, especially after seeing the carpet at Obama HQ and wanting to buy it in real life. But that's another review.) I did like the electoral map on the wall, although it served as a reminder that Clinton wants to be the Democrat who appeals to "red state" voters - which is exactly what makes "blue" base voters run screaming.

I actually ran into the owner of the land where Clinton HQ is being built - on the unfortunately named Isles of Intrgue2. I took her picture and asked a few questions about the space:

[8:05] pup Witherspoon: hi Ruby
[8:05] Ruby Glitter: Hi Pup.
[8:05] Ruby Glitter: Did you build this space?
[8:05] pup Witherspoon: smiles... was a joint effort of several folks
[8:05] pup Witherspoon: i had a hand in some of it
[8:05] Ruby Glitter: Is it official? Endorsed by the campaign?
[8:05] pup Witherspoon: we're waiting for that endorsement to come back... in the meantime.. we're getting things put together
[8:05] Ruby Glitter: Interesting.
[8:05] pup Witherspoon: that's why we've not done much advertising about the space.. and we're still working on interactive components

I have also visited Edwards' and Obama's spaces in Second Life, although I did not think to take pictures at the time (but I will). In fact, the groundbreaking John Edwards HQ has already been moved and overhauled, so it's due for another visit. Given that all of these sites are likely to continue to be works in progress, I may circle back periodically to see how they change and how they are being used by candidates and/or their supporters.

I've also heard rumblings about a Wesley Clark presence in SL, but he's not a candidate yet, and there's Disco Rudy which is clearly not the effort of supporters. If there are any other places I should be looking, please let me know!