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Get informed before you vote
There's a lot of buzz surrounding the 2008 presidential campaign. It's the first time in 80 years that an incumbent president or vice president is not running for the Oval Office. Consequently, the average voter might have to do a bit more research about the candidates' stances on such hot topics as health care, global warming, social security and the war in Iraq.
Start with Yahoo! News for full news coverage and opinions on the 2008 presidential election. You'll find photos, audio, video and related sites about candidates.
Review press coverage and opinion writing on the major issues of the 2008 campaign with the Washington Post's new Issue Coverage Tracker. The site gathers information from a wide variety of sources across the political spectrum. Sources include news organizations, political parties, interest groups, bloggers, unions, trade organizations, candidates, activists and more. It features an interactive display designed for participation, allowing users to customize by candidate or issue.
Some political analysts have predicted that the eventual nominees each will need to raise up to $500 million to compete in the race. Want to know where all this money will be coming from? The Federal Election Commission, an independent regulatory agency, discloses campaign finance information, enforces limits and prohibitions on contributions, and oversees the public funding of presidential elections. Opensecrets.org, sponsored by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research group based in Washington, D.C., goes further and tracks the effects of money on elections and public policy.
For the tech savvy, check out the CNN/YouTube debates. CNN has streaming video of past Democratic debates in which voters submitted online videos with questions for the candidates. CNN also will sponsor a YouTube Republican debate next month. MySpace and MTV are hosting live "Presidential Candidate Dialogues." During the debates, users will be able to respond to polls and submit their own questions to the candidates in real-time via MySpaceIM and MTV.com. All the major candidates from both parties have committed to the series.
Political junkies searching for a historical overview of past elections should use the UB Libraries Politics and Elections Research Guide, which provides links to a wide variety of information and statistics on presidential elections, past and present, including electoral votes by state for 1789 through the present day.
After browsing these Web resources, you'll definitely feel confident casting your vote in November 2008.
—Laura Taddeo, Arts & Sciences Libraries