By the People: Election 2004 . Savvy Voter

"... in our brief national history we have shot four of our presidents, worried five of them to death, impeached one and hounded another out of office. And when all else fails, we hold an election and assassinate their character."
P.J. O'Rourke

Assess a Web Site

Learn what questions you need to ask to assess a campaign Web site.

The Internet provides political candidates with a new media for campaigning. As with other media, such as television ads, it is important that you know how to be a critical consumer. Here are six questions you should ask when assessing candidate Web sites.

Is this the real thing?
You may have arrived at the official Web site of a campaigner, but you could also be looking at a parody or a site put up by an enthusiastic supporter or even an attack site by an equally enthusiastic opponent. It may even be an official Web site of the candidate--but one from a campaign conducted two years ago.

To verify who is behind what you are looking at, search for the "disclaimer," the notice of sponsorship at the bottom of the home page. Also, check the date the material was last updated. You might have landed in the official campaign Web site...from the preceding election.

What does the candidate say this election is all about?
A campaign Web site should state its message up front since that is the central reason the candidate is asking for your vote. The most persuasive reasons to vote for a candidate are neither positive nor negative ones, but comparative. Every candidate "cares about our children," but what specific programs will this candidate advocate to better the lives of kids? How are those programs different from those the opponent advocates?

What do the record and the community say about the candidate?
Candidates have been known to say anything in search of public support. Good candidates are proud to demonstrate to you that they have walked the walk of which they talk. Their Web sites will enable you to check campaign promises and positions against votes and endorsements. Again, it's wise to check the dates.

Is the site talking at you, or to you?
Campaign Web sites belong to the public square, where everyone can listen and speak (in turn, of course). Candidates who respect democracy will solicit your opinions, and then show you that yours count. They may not respond personally, but they should have a campaign representative whom you can contact with a detailed message.

Before you sign up for e-mail, do check the competition. Then let's say you like what you've seen from candidate A better than candidates B and C. (Yes, there are more than two parties out there.) You want to volunteer. Before you do, ask the following questions.

If you give the campaign personal information, what will the campaign do with it?
Every reputable campaign has posted a privacy policy. At a minimum, the campaign should promise never to share or sell any information you have provided it, consciously or unconsciously (via cookies), without prior notification and consent. You should also be able to see your file, as it were, on request.

What can I do to help?
If you decide to support the campaign, you should find meaningful stuff to do. Meaningful doesn't necessarily mean fascinating or fun. (Politics can be those things, but it is also work at times.) You should expect to hear from the campaign by e-mail roughly once a week, and daily in the last week before the election.

You can also take the initiative, and help a campaign make its online case, by attesting to and/or documenting its positions. For example, if you own a business, and support a candidate because you agree with her that businesses are over-regulated, you can supply her campaign with evidence of that. The Internet is a great medium for detailed communications of this kind. It costs so little to exchange and exhibit information.

Learn More

VirtualChase.com: How to Assess a Web Site
Though this web site is targeted more broadly than the election, the tips it offers for assessing web site credibility are useful in any setting.

Poynter.org: Smarter Surfing
This story from Sreenath Sreenivasan, a Columbia University journalism professor, is filled with good tips for finding Web sites and using the web for research.

This essay was written by Richard M. Valelly, Professor of Political Science, Swarthmore College.

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