The Web on the Candidates

• The Benefactors Behind the Blue Cheese Dip: At first we thought that the Sunlight Foundation had put together a useful attendee's guide to the hundreds of shindigs, soirees, and mixers that will take place during the upcoming Democratic and Republican conventions in Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul respectively. But it turns out that Party Time!: Documenting the Political Party Circuit is actually an effort to shine light on the tremendous amounts of corporate and PAC cash that flows through the quadrennial political gatherings. Yep, that makes a bit more sense for a Sunlight project. The conventions will indeed be rife with parties; Change Congress's Japhet Els reports, for example, some 90 fetes a day for the DNC. That said, new ethics rules are prompting the forsaking of forks in favor of chopsticks, so consider the republic saved. (Disclosure: PdF's Andrew Rasiej and Micah Sifry are senior strategic advisors to the Sunlight Foundation.) #

• Big Bluers Voting Blue?: A new survey of nearly 3,000 information technology professionals by ITToolbox finds that this, in the words of the site, "traditionally conservative industry" is leaning towards Barack Obama this cycle. #

The Candidates on the Web

• The Team Behind the Curtain: The Washington Post's Jose Antonio Vargas profiles Barack Obama's new media team led by Dean campaign veteran Joe Rospars. Jose spotlights the campaign's efforts to leapfrog over traditional media to directly touch supporters. As the piece reads, the specialized team members are something like the X-Men: Kate Albright-Hanna -- video! Scott Goodstein -- text messaging! Chris Hughes -- social networking! Sam Graham-Felsen -- blogging! More than a dozen other staffers round out online shop, prompting former Giuliani deputy Internet director Katie Harbath to comment via Twitter: "20+ online staffers on Obama campaign? Damn, we just had 2. Would have killed for 20+." Budding online politicos of all political persuasions should probably cross their fingers that Obama performs well in November, or it might be quite some time before we again see online shops the size of minor league baseball teams. (Thanks to Brett Schenker for checking my comic reference.) #

• "We'll Make You a Deal...": The AP catches up on Obama's VP SMS-for-cell-number swap. #

• Geeking Out in the Policy Shop: Obama's economics advisor Austan Goolsbee, is, according to a profile by Technology Review's Mark Williams, a premier member of the new class of economists that roots its economic analysis in a firm understanding of the networked world. Goolsbee, says the piece, is in fact one of the first economists who predicted years ago that the Internet would prove a "great equalizer" that would, in time, improve the way markets function. #

TechCongress and Beyond

• Election e-Highjinks: Come November, might some Internet hooligans update vote tampering for the digital age? Slate's Christopher Beam details possible tactics, such posting an ad on geography-based social networks that a local polling spot has moved from City Hall to Hall Elementary. Luckily, Beam has clever ideas for combating such nefariousness: "The sickness is also the cure. Social networks thrive on sharing, so if you discover a misleading ad, it's that much easier to tell everyone you know." #

In Case You Missed It...

We know, we know. You've been scouring the country for months looking for a pro-Obama tofu-shaped plush toy. Consider your search over. #

Austan Goolsbee | Barack Obama | Democratic Convention | Republican Convention | sms
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