The Web on the Candidates

• The web is turning political novices into political organizers, writes the Lehigh Valley (PA) Morning Call. Two months ago Michele Tims, a social worker in Allentown, "started an online group for the Democratic senator, hoping for little more than a few new friends. Instead she finds herself leading a community of about 35 Obama enthusiasts in the Lehigh Valley." Outsourcing organizing to a campaign's supporters has, for Obama, resulted in more online fundraising than any other candidate. The article features some intensely local examples of how Obama supporters are taking up organizing and fundraising after joining the campaign through my.barackobama.com.

The Candidates on the Web

• Today is Equal Pay Day, and Hillary Clinton is featuring a wage gap calculator on her home page to illustrate the wage gap between men and women. After entering information about where you live, your education level, income, age, and race, you're shown how much more a man with the same background would be making. It's a nice tool that underscores Clinton's focus on women's rights. However, it's been a long time since we saw a new Hillcast -- what happened?
• Barack Obama gave a big foreign policy speech yesterday to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and his promotion of it has changed the tone of his home page, at least for now. Although there's no video of the speech on the site yet (let's hope it's coming), you'll find the full text of it, which is a marked change from the supporter's testimonials the site usually features. Obama has often been criticized for his reluctance to talk hard policy, but this speech seeks to alter that perception, and his home page as changed to suit that goal. Will the site return to the supporter-testimonial model, or will we see more of a focus on policy and the issues?
• Sam Brownback has quietly and subtly revamped his home page so that it now has not one, not two, but THREE toolbars. The first, at the top of the page, has links to an about page, the issues, "coalitions," a news room, a support page, contact, a blog, and a contribute page. The second is composed of thumbnail images (children, babies, money, and giant electro-tube) that you roll over to get Brownback's stance on the issues or, when clicked, videos (using -- ugh -- pop-up windows). Below that toolbar is another toolbar with links to news articles, road updates, blog conversations, the issues, "Featured," and a bio. When each link is clinked a bunch of text -- way too much of it -- is displayed below the toolbar.There's so much overlap in the subjects displayed, and so much text-based information being thrown at us, I'm wondering if these things were added on as the campaign thought of them, with no regard to how they fit in with the rest of the site, or if this is part of the plan.One good addition: links to Brownback's social networking profiles are featured on the bottom left side of the page. His MySpace page has been growing quickly; it's something to keep an eye on.

In Case You Missed It…

The Case Against Detailed Candidate Platforms on Websites
by Spencer Overton
Why don’t candidates articulate detailed platforms on the web? Platforms put forth by candidates are very top-down. At best, they are based on the thoughts of a handful of experts, and “the people” vote up or down all of the issues collectively when they select a candidate at the polls.

The Campaign Is About Me
by Tom Belford
Candidates’ emails communicate little about issues.