The Web on the Candidates

• The second web video attacking Senator John McCain (R-AZ) hit the ‘internet tubes’ on Monday as documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald challenged McCain’s self-described “straight talk” from the war in Iraq to the religious right for a new blog, The Real McCain.
• Michael Finnegan covered the ad for the Los Angeles Times and how online video is a threat to ’08 hopefuls as “gaffes” made in front of a few people can rapidly grow by the thousands in just hours.
• Meanwhile, in the Washington Times, Christina Bellantoni cited the pros of web-based video that allows for pre-recorded and carefully crafted messages that, as Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) noted, is a cost-effective media tool. Web designer Matthew Barton warned that candidates have to “play by the YouTube rules” to attract more than just political junkies.
• Internet strategists for presidential campaigns on both sides stress that an online presence is a must for ’08 candidates but Senator Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) web coordinator, Peter Daou, warned in Aoife McCarthy’s piece in The Politico, “Innovation is not an end in itself. It is a way to enhance communication.”
• Laurin Manning (South Carolina ’08) stumbled upon a redirect from a misspelled variation of “Rudy Giuliani” to former Senator John Edwards’ (D-NC) campaign site. Several hours later, the redirect changed to former Governor Mitt Romney’s (R-MA) official site.
• Republicans continue to fall behind Democrats in mobilizing the online armies for the 2008 presidential election, Matt Browner Hamlin (The Right’s Field) found. GOP online activists, however, are not waiting and are feverishly trying to emulate their Democratic counterparts without any immediate success.
• Markos Moulitsas Zuniga (DailyKos) questioned an article in the Wall Street Journal that said Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) was winning “netroots primaries” when there is little evidence to that effect, citing fellow netroots stalwart Matt Stoller and a recent DailyKos poll conducted in mid-January.

The Candidates on the Web

• Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AK) formed his presidential exploratory committee on Monday and launched the campaign website but continued the GOP trend against web-based video and failing to embrace the social networks.
• This weekend’s National Day of Energy Action is the spotlighted video from former Senator John Edwards (D-NC).
• Video from the January staff meeting of former Governor Tom Vilsack (D-IA) appears to be a thinly-veiled stump speech.
• Ron Paul Watch: Congressman Ron Paul’s (R-TX) campaign website is still lame but did make one minor change: the maximum donation amounts were increased in accordance with election law. (Outdated screenshot available here.) At least we know the site was not abandoned.
• James Gilmore (R-VA) officially formed a presidential exploratory committee several weeks ago yet remained homeless on the internet.