The Web on the Candidates

• Last night YouTube launched a new feature called "Spotlight." Each week, a different candidate will be in the "spotlight" on YouTube, putting up a video and asking for video responses from the YouTube community. Viewers will have one week to upload their responses, and at the end of the week the candidate will upload another video reflecting on those responses. As Jeff Jarvis notes, this is basically a mirror image of his PrezConference project, which asks citizens to upload videos first, and for candidates to respond. The first candidate to participate is Mitt Romney, who asks the not-so-substantive question "what do you believe is America's single greatest challenge, and what would you do to address it?"
• Todd Zeigler of the Bivings Report takes a look at two recent op-eds from Republican presidential contenders. One, from John McCain, was a piece about Iraq published in the Washington Post, and the other, from the undeclared Fred Thompson, was a blog post about Iran on RedState. After researching the number of Technorati links, comments, and popularity on Digg, Zeigler finds that Thompson's post may have been more popular than McCain's published op-ed. "There was a certain buzz about Thompson posting on Redstate that an old-school Washington Post op-ed just isn't going to replicate. Thompson brought his unfiltered message to the home of online conservatives. This sends a clear message that he values them and wants their support. If you want to be someone's friend sometimes you've got to stop by and visit," Zeigler writes. Though this isn't to say that publishing in print is for luddites. "So am I saying Redstate (or Dailykos for Democrats) over the Post? Not at all. A mixed strategy is probably best. But I do think people should realize that a well-timed blog post can have just as much of an impact online as an op-ed in the Post."

The Candidates on the Web

• In the wake of sub-par fundraising numbers, John McCain is trimming his headquarters staff. Although we don't know who exactly is getting cut and what this will mean for McCain's web presence, the Hotline On Call reports that "Key departments, including political affairs, communications and the field staff in early primaries states -- were spared, and some instances, are still hiring."
• Although he doesn't have a video section on his site and continues to simply feature videos in his sidebar, Dennis Kucinich has been consistently uploading videos outlining his stands on the issues, notably Iraq. But while he seems fairly confident in front of the camera, he's being filmed in front of some seriously garish backgrounds. In his most recent video he speaks about the recent legislation passed by Congress authorizing more money for Iraq (they're still battling with President Bush over the details). His performance is fine, but I'm continually distracted by the background. Did he hijack a Jeopardy set for the shoot? Or maybe Wolf Blitzer lent him his Situation Room? Or is he ringing in the day at Nasdaq? Whatever it is, it gives the video a strange, Minority Report-like feeling that is at extreme odds with Kuncinich's message and demeanor.

In Case You Missed It...

Unity08 Chat
By Mike Turk
David King and Mike Turk will be fielding questions about Unity08's rules for the delegate and convention process today at noon on the Unity08 website. It will be sure to be an interesting discussion; while there is definitely a significant danger of Unity08 going down to spectacular failure, everyone involved in it is working hard to advance the cause of online politics, but also the cause of participatory democracy.

The Candidates and Web Analytics
By Lynne d Johnson
After reading a Wall Street Journal article entitled, "In '08 Race, Web Tactics Are Even More Integral, on March 19, Robbin Steif CEO of lunametrics wrote on the company's blog about the web analytics packages that the US presidential candidates and non-candidate were using.

Le Internet campaign
by Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry
To the outside observer, France's 2007 race for president has a lot in common with the 2008 race in the U.S.

Like in the U.S., it's wide open: for the first time since 1974, no candidate is an incumbent prime minister or president. Like in the U.S., this is the first time a woman – and a highly polarizing one – is a credible candidate. Like in the U.S., the stakes are very high because many hope that the election will help solve a deeply traumatic issue, Iraq for the U.S., and the welfare state in France.

The New Influencers: Stephen DeMaura
By Fred Stutzman
Stephen DeMaura is the creator of the anti-Hillary Clinton Facebook group Stop Hillary Clinton: (One Million Strong AGAINST Hillary). His group has attracted over 167,000 members, 40,000 of which have signed up in April alone. As a new influencer in the race to 2008, Techpresident asked Stephen a few questions about his work developing and marketing the Facebook group.

Fred Thompson Has Cancer
By Micah L. Sifry
RedState had the story first. Followed by Breitbart, then Drudge. Who was it who said that the Republicans seemed to be on a roller-coaster, with a different flavor rising and then crashing each month? Our best wishes to Senator Thompson...

Upcoming Events:

This Friday:

Democratization and the Networked Public Sphere

Panel Discussion with danah boyd, Trebor Scholz, and Ethan Zuckerman

Friday, April 13, 2007, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

The New School, Theresa Lang Community and Student Center

55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor

New York City

Admission: $8, free for all students, New School faculty, staff, and alumni with valid ID

This evening at the Vera List Center for Art & Politics will discuss the potential of sociable media such as weblogs and social networking sites to democratize society through emerging cultures of broad participation.

Dennis Kucinich | Fred Thompson | John McCain | Mitt Romney | Spotlight | YouTube
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