www.joinarnold.com

I’ll be the first to admit my sense of timing is way out of whack. I always tend to overestimate what I can get done in a given period of time. I had planned to have all three of the CA Gov sites done before the primary. Now here we are a month after and I’m just wrapping up Arnold. Micah has been very diligent in hounding me to get this done, so don’t blame him. I just know y’all are eagerly awaiting the next installment of this series (um… yeah… I tell myself that, anyway). Anyway, sorry it has taken so long, but here is a close look at Arnold "The Governator" Schwarzenegger’s site. If you have suggestions for other sites you’d like me to review, feel free to mail them to me at websitereview@kungfuquip.com As a reminder, the six scoring criteria are:
• Appearance
• Communication
• Depth of Content
• Mobilization
• Technology
• Usability
Schwarzenegger is running a multi-million dollar race in the largest state in the country, yet his website, beneath the shiny exterior, has very little to offer. It's a fairly weak offering for a really, really strong candidate. Complete Review »

    www.westly2006.com

Tuesday is the big day for candidates in the California gubernatorial primary. The winner gets to take on Arnold in the November general and the campaigns are fighting it out down to the wire. Online, the campaigns are employing varying degrees of sophistication to gather, organize, and mobilize their supporters. I’m taking a look at the Angelides and Westly campaigns and then will turn to the man they hope to dethrone – Arnold “Kindergarten Cop” Schwarzenegger. As a reminder, the six scoring criteria are:
• Appearance
• Communication
• Depth of Content
• Mobilization
• Technology
• Usability
Angelides is doing some interesting things online with a sophisticated online action center and the ability for volunteers to organize themselves with tools online to call and walk. Unfortunately, his site’s visual appeal is lacking and many visitors may not look past the rough exterior to find the quality within. What does Westly offer? Let’s take a look. Complete Review »

    www.angelides.com

My day job has kept me swamped the last few weeks, so I apologize for the delay in getting the next website review done. Micah and I were kicking around some concepts for the review and settled on taking a close look at all the candidates in one race. I wanted to look at a statewide race and that led me to the inevitable conclusion that I’d need to do this twice – once in a state where statewide races mean big bucks, and once in a state where that’s just not the case. I know I said I’d look at races with less dough this time around, but I hope you’ll forgive a diversion. Since the big game this year is shaping up for a showdown in just a few weeks, I decided to look at California and, in rapid succession, tackle the two leading Democrats (Steve “Go Westly Young Man” Westly and Phil “the Angel” Angelides) and the guy they hope to face in November – the Terminator himself – Arnold “I hope I can spell this right” Schwarzenegger. The OC Register recently ran an interesting article on the candidates for governor and their sophisticated online operations. I thought I’d take a look. I swear I’ll hit some lower-tier races, and campaigns that are doing more with less, in the next go around. Now, without further adieu (yes, that’s French for my GOP readers, I apologize), I bring you a close look at The Angel’s nesting place on the Net. Again, the scoring is based on six criteria. Each component will get a separate score and the average will yield the sites overall score. The six criteria are:
• Appearance
• Communication
• Depth of Content
• Mobilization
• Technology
• Usability
Complete Review »

    www.ricksantorum.com

We’re going from the highest profile candidate on the left to the highest profile candidate on the right. I kicked off the Campaign Website Review looking at Hillary Clinton’s online campaign vehicle. I’ve received some really positive feedback and heard some folks within Hillary’s camp took it to heart. I started this as a way to offer constructive criticism without a partisan tilt, so I’m glad they enjoyed it (assuming the rumors are true). The last review also pointed out a hole in my own armor. Some determined readers tracked me down to point out the link to my contact form on my personal blog was broken. It’s all fixed now, though, so fire away. To give you some fodder, I’m tackling my first GOP candidate this time around. Again, the scoring is based on six criteria. Each component will get a separate score and the average will yield the sites overall score. The six criteria are:

• Appearance
• Communication
• Depth of Content
• Mobilization
• Technology
• Usability

Since Rick Santorum is the prime target for the left in 2006, it makes since to start there. This is made somewhat harder by the fact that Rick’s online guru, Mindy Finn, is my former deputy at the RNC and managed all of our e-mail for the Bush campaign. She’s incredibly talented and Rick is lucky to have her. I have to be honest about the site, however, so hopefully she’ll still talk to me afterward. Complete Review »

    www.hillaryclinton.com

Micah Sifry and I talked recently about a project I was considering – a campaign website review. This would be an honest assessment, without partisan positioning, of the state of candidate websites. Since 2004 was viewed as the watershed year for politics and the Internet, has anyone really learned the lessons of last year? How are campaigns using technology to help themselves organize and communicate online?

I want to approach this critically, but honestly, so I’ve broken down the scoring and will judge sites based on six criteria. Each component will get a separate score and the average will yield the sites overall score. The six criteria are:

• Appearance
• Communication
• Depth of Content
• Mobilization
• Technology
• Usability

These six aspects of a site are critical to your success. You can have the best technology, and the greatest message, but if it’s all buried in a hard to use site, it does you no good. Similarly, you can have a great looking site, with no substance, and no thought put into the campaign’s strategy or the mechanics of online activism. Campaign websites are a balance, and the scoring should reflect that.

I’m kicking off the first post in this series with a look at Hillary Clinton’s site – www.hillaryclinton.com. She is up for reelection this year, and likely to jump in the ring for 2008. As a result, this year’s campaign may demonstrate how seriously she’s going to take the Internet community. She’s also likely to be a strong challenger, so lower tier candidates will likely follow her lead if she does something cool online.

Complete Review »