Elections 2008

Table of Contents

Candidates

News

Campaign Finance

Voting and Registration

Election Results

 

Election Returns Election Returns

 

 

 

 

   Candidates -- Issues, platform, parties

http://www.issues2000.org/

Top site focusing on candidates' issue positions. Gives background on issues along with excerpted quotes from candidates revealing their position. Can compare all candidates on a single issue, or all issues for a given candidate. Grid classifies opinions as liberal, conservative, progressive, or libertarian.

 

http://www.politics1.com/

Candidate bios, analysis, list of supporters, links to supportive and nonsupportive web sites. "Issues" links to PACs by political orientation. Modest links to political party sites. Fairly commercial site but valuable for its compilation of media hype and opposing comments.

 

Project Vote Smart

Non-partisan organization dedicated to compiling factual information on political candidates and elected officials to create an informed citizenry. Site includes biographical information, voting records, campaign issue positions, performance evaluations by special interests, campaign contributions, backgrounds, previous experience, and contact information. Standardized questionnaire results help compare candidates and identify stance on issues. Extensive links to other resources. Excellent, well-respected site.

 

Texas Voters' Guide

Succinct overview of candidates in state races and presidential. Lists candidate's responses to specific questions for comparison purposes. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters, this is the best concise guide to the candidates.

 

   News

AllPolitics (CNN)

Daily news coverage of the elections.  Features today's news plus small archives, videos of political ads, brief biographies, CNN opinion polls, political analyses.

 

FactCheck.org

(Annenberg Political Fact Checker)

Monitors factual accuracy of what candidates say.  Good way to determine who really said what.  Well-documented articles give voters the real story.  Contains current stories plus archives back to 2003.  Good, nonpartisan, "consumer advocate" site.

 

Campaign 2008

(C-SPAN)

Videos of speeches and interviews, campaign events and ads, videos and podcasts on presidential debates, videos on political analyses.

 

   Campaign Finance

http://www.opensecrets.org/home/index.asp

Campaign finance data on individual candidates.  Charts and number totals depict funds by source (individual/PAC/self/federal), geography, sector, and industry.  Totals given by state, city, and zip code.  Donor look-up allows searching by specific variables.

 

Federal Election Commission

Summary receipts and disbursements of presidential and congressional candidates.  Search by candidate, then drill down to individual contribution detail.  Use this

convenient map

to get started.

 

Campaign Money

 

Search by candidate, contributor, PACs, etc.

 

   Voting and Registration

http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/index.shtml

Important dates, voting procedure, early voting information, and lists of county election officials.

 

http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/index.shtml

Registration procedures, where to vote, ballot issues, frequently asked questions, etc.  See especially the excellent guide to

Texas Voting

.

 

Register to Vote

For Texas

 (Registration deadline Oct. 6 for November 2008 Election)

National Voter Registration Form

Student voters

 

   Election Results

ABC News:  Vote 2008

Real time votes for presidential, state, house, senate, and other issues.  See the nation at a glance, or click individual states for state results.

 

Secretary of State Election Returns (After 7:00 p.m. November 4)

Texas

or

Other states

Source for official election results that all other sites use.  Results show up here first.  Presidential, House, Senate, and other offices reported by state, by county, and by county comparison.  Updated continually until official counts completed. 

Quick links: 

Texas early voting turnout

,

turnout/registration comparison 1970-present

,

Texas voter registration by county

 

Washington Post:  When Polls Close

Follow summary votes hour by hour after 7:00 p.m. EST as polls close across the state.  Follow

Election Returns

and check

twitter feeds

 for race calls.