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Casting my Vote ... on Presidential Websites

Feb 27, 2008
presidential websites


So much time and effort goes into the campaign trail, writing speeches and making promises. That's great and all, but what about those web developers and designers working hard to drive the online campaign? Where's the love for them?

I spent some time researching the four candidate's sites (yes, Huckabee still counts), and here's who I would vote for, based entirely off just visiting their website and knowing nothing else. From top left to bottom right:

Barack Obama (www.barackobama.com): This is the most visually appealing site out of the four. The Obama campaign did a great job creating an up to date layout that's interesting and appealing for people in my generation.

Pros: Stunning icons throughout, easy navigation and feeling like you're part of the site with my.barackobama.com.

Cons: Splash page, embedded YouTube video and unfinished looking footer.

John McCain (www.johnmccain.com): At first glance, the site comes off cold with the black background and reminds me a lot of the Go Army site. I know military is a big push for him, but yellow stars on black backgrounds? I'm not sure I've ever been to the Go Army site before, but I knew that it looked the same.

Pros: Up to the minute delegate counter, easy ways to find out how to support/join and easy navigation.

Cons: McCainSpace, Supporter Spotlight with Sylvester Stallone, search bar in the footer (who's using that down there?) and multiple email sign up within 200px of each other.

Hillary Clinton (www.hillaryclinton.com): After navigation my way through another Democratic splash screen, I finally get to the site. After getting off of McCain's site, hc.com is a patriotic punch in the face with vibrant red, white and blue colors throughout.

Pros: No outward mention of Bill, bilingual functionality and great state images.

Cons: The barn in Nebraska's state image, the constant use of the word "Help" on the home page and the red contribute buttons.

Mike Huckabee (www.mikehuckabee.com): After being mathematically eliminated from the race, I figured I'd add Mike before March 4th, when he sees that it is absolutely impossible to win. Along with Senator Clinton, Mike went with the patriotic red, white and blue to kick off his site.

Pros: Great call to action flowcharts and images throughout, "I Like Mike" favicon and the bold "Faith. Family. Freedom." brand in the top right.

Cons: Extremely unorganized home page, logo seeming like it's fading into the top of the browser and lack of visually displaying the difference between a link and bold text.

After making my decision, based primarily on the sites described above, I'd have to put Obama and McCain on the ticket with Obama winning narrowly in November. To me, it seems like the Obama team put in the most time and effort with their design and development.

Overall ratings:
BarackObama.com: 9.3
JohnMcCain.com: 8.7
HillaryClinton.com: 8.5
MickHuckabee.com: 6.2
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