2008 Presidential Sites: From a Designer’s Perspective

We’ve heard a lot so far about the 2008 presidential sites focused on Web features and content. What we haven’t really discussed yet is the look and feel of these sites. So here’s my take on the 2008 presidential sites…from a designer’s perspective....

How to NOT raise money online

Over the years I’ve signed up for every online political mailing list known to man as part of my job, so it was no surprise that I got an email this morning from the Brownback campaign about his candidacy for President. But I was surprised at how poorly executed the email was....

Campaigns are Conversations

Hillary Clinton formally announced her entry into the 2008 Presidential race today. And like Tom Vilsack, Senator Clinton appears to have spent some time with the Cluetrain Manifesto (“markets are conversations”).

The tagline “Let the Conversation Begin” is plastered all over her site and she begins her annoucement video with this quote: “I’m not just starting a campaign,...

Who’s it Gonna be? 2008 Presidential Candidate Websites

The Pew Internet and American Life Project released a new study this week about trends in obtaining political news online.  The results were pretty interesting, but predictable, given the rise in user-generated Web content.  Here is a summary of some of the study's important points:

• The number of Americans relying on the internet for political news doubled from the 2002 mid-term election and grew fivefold in the past decade:

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Is the Obama Campaign Going to Embrace Consumer Generated Video?

When I saw Senator Barack Obama’s annoucement video yesterday, I was impressed by the Flash video player the campaign is using.  I’ve looked into this before, and the Flash player Obama is using has the critical features I look for: (1) subtle design, (2) the ability to email the video, (3) permalink and (3) embeddable HTML code. ...