The Web on the Candidates

• In an editorial this Sunday, the Washington Post’s Catherine Rampbell attempted to explain why, despite years of outreach to young voters, 2008 is the first year that turnout is expected to be up. She credits Barack Obama for both his appeal and organizing strengths, writing that “where Rock the Vote has gone wrong, Barack Obama has gone very, very right.” This dis of Rock the Vote has some folks up in arms; Future Majority’s Mike Connery writes that Rampbell simply “got the youth story completely wrong,” and mentions that Rock the Vote is preparing a response. We’re curious to see it, along with more analyses of why this is the year the youth vote woke up.

• Before the Internet, it was next to impossible to find information about the candidates. Now, writes the Washington Post’s Jose Antonio Vargas, it’s possible to find out most anything in one or two clicks. “Online,” he writes, “‘We the people … ’ takes on a whole new meaning.” Vargas then gets deep, talking to all sorts of experts and online activists — most of whom are household names in the households of our readers — about how the web gives the voters a chance to be uniquely engaged in politics. A great piece.

• We had great fun reporting from the front lines of last year’s email wars between Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson, and Barack Obama, who all sent out increasingly pared-down and tossed-off-seeming notes to their supporters. Now the Politico’s Jonathan Martin discovers that the DCCC is in on the fake simplicity too. He posts an email from Paul Begala signed, “Sent wirelessly.” Begala, that’s so 2007. Chris Dodd and Co. have been there, done that.

• See, online social action and politics can coexist. Avaaz.org co-founder Tom Perriello is running for Congress in Virginia and is being supported by the Obamajority Project, a progressive project that seeks to elect Democratic Members of Congress that can help pass Barack Obama’s agenda. Open Left diarist Populista has a good rundown of Perriello’s background and accolades.

• He may not be running for president anymore, but Stephen Colbert still wants to influence the race. He’s been challenging supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to donate to Pennsylvania schools, using the site DonorsChoose.org. The Washington Times’ Christina Bellantoni reports that Obama supporters have raised $91,000 for the schools, dwarfing Clinton supporters’ $15,000. Either way, it’s money for the schools and, um, publicity for Colbert.

• The New York Times’ Frank Rich has really been hammering Hillary lately. This past Sunday, he blamed the sticking power of the video of Hillary not evading sniper fire in Bosnia on her insistence on exaggerating the danger of that trip. “Why would so smart a candidate play political Russian roulette with virtually all the bullet chambers loaded?,” he asks. Comparing the video of Clinton’s trip to George Allen’s YouTube-induced disaster in 2006, Rich writes that “viral video can destroy a Democrat, too.” Ouch.

• The Sunlight Foundation has just released another brilliant site: PublicMarkup.org lets the public comment on proposed legislation, ideally making the legislation better and the process more transparent. To try it, check out Sunlight's Transparency in Government legislation. You can find other examples of online legislative collaboration in the UK from David Wilcox and Tom Watson. (techPresident's Andrew Rasiej and Micah Sifry are advisors to the Sunlight Foundation.)

The Candidates on the Web

• Yesterday we posted about a London mayoral candidate who participated in the first Twitter interview. Now comes word that 10 Downing Street is also using Twitter to send out messages and respond to questions. Is Twitter in the water over there or what? (via Jeff Jarvis)

• Meanwhile, many Members of Congress have Twitter accounts, but Roll Call reports that most are failing to post anything to them, much less respond to voters. Maybe they should take a field trip across the pond to see how it’s done. (The Roll Call article is subsciption-only.)

• Also, if you’re a Member of Congress or a staffer, don’t try using YouTube.

• Two gubernatorial candidates in North Carolina aren’t as techno-blasé. Last night Bev Purdue and Richard Moore participated in an online debate, hosted by BlueNC, answering questions posted by readers of the site. Judging by the number of thoughtful comments and questions beneath each candidates’ thread, it looks like the experiment was a success.

In Case You Missed It…

Hugh Atkin is at it again. Micah Sifry posts on his full-on mashup of Sarah Silverman’s “I’m F—-ing Matt Damon” repurposed for the Clinton-Obama battle.

While web participation is up, so are prison sentences. Zephyr Teachout thinks we need a web campaign to push for felons getting the right to vote.

Over at Personal Democracy Forum, Allison Fine finds valid examples of online voting and wonders if they might help us find solutions to our nationwide voting problems.

Also at PdF, I write that while the movement towards transparency and free information in government is gaining ground, a recent incident in CA is proving there are still fights to be had.

Al Gore just announced a new campaign to $300 million climate change campaign. But at the risk of being totally un-PC for We, Allison Fine has some problems with it. Is it just too slick?

Barack Obama | Frank Rich | Hillary Clinton | Rock the Vote | Twitter
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