The Web on the Candidates

• The netroots have made a big deal out of Barack Obama’s recent comparison of himself to Ronald Reagan, thinking it further proof that Obama is too centrist for their tastes. Matt Stoller rounds up some steam-blowing from the leftisphere, citing posts by Digby, Big Tent Democrat, and Rick Perlstein. But Ezra Klein thinks Stoller might be misinterpreting Obama’s words, arguing that Obama “admires Reagan for shifting the center,” not for his ideology, and that, like Reagan, Obama is concerned with being “more inspirational than managerial.”

• We reported this week that Barack Obama has received money from over 100,000 new donors in the new year, an impressive number by any standard. But the Washington Post’s Jose Antonio Vargas writes that “the Web is more than just raising funds, as all the candidates are learning. It’s also about providing voters with organizing tools that enable them to become not just supporters but also surrogates for the campaign. On this score, Obama, too, is finding a lot of success.” Thanks to online social networking, donors are frequently becoming organizers. We’re seeing this for Ron Paul too, but there’s scant evidence that it’s happening in other campaigns.

• Another new site called WhereIstand.com is finding creative ways to chart voters’ positions alongside those of the candidates. The issues are wide-ranging, from election-year topics like health and national security to general categories like “media.” Also, one fun difference between this and other comparison sites is that it includes the stances of non-political and entertainment figures, so if you want to see where, say, William Shatner stands on the issues, along with Mitt Romney or John Edwards, dive in.

The Candidates on the Web

• Tomorrow brings the Nevada caucus for the Dems and the South Carolina primary for the GOP, but most of the candidate sites are on cruise control. Barack Obama doesn’t have anything on his front page but has a dedicated “Caucus Center” and John Edwards is focusing on the media blackout he’s faced since Iowa and New Hampshire. But Hillary Clinton is again tutoring supporters on caucusing, this time in Nevada.

• Meanwhile, John McCain has a special South Carolina page with a video message and Fred Thompson has a pretty lame list of stops on a South Carolina bus tour. Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul don’t have anything special set up at all outside of news feeds and poll results.

In Case You Missed It…

Last weekend, tourists in Las Vegas were greeted by the sight of Ron Paul supporters parading down the Strip, chanting: “We’re not just the Internet. We’re flesh and blood.” Peter Erickson asks, could this serve as the motto of the 2008 campaign?

Mitt Romney, victor of Michigan, dominates our favorite videos of the week. Watch as he’s criticized for dissing a medical marijuana user, Democrats are urged to bring out the vote for him, and he gets testy with a reporter for bringing up the small question of whether lobbyists are running his campaign. Touchy subject, Mitt?

New Yahoo! Buzz data shows that Mitt Romney is ascendant in Nevada, and is fighting with John McCain for the lead in South Carolina.

Barack Obama | Fred Thompson | Hillary Clinton | John Edwards | John McCain | Mike Huckabee | Mitt Romney | Ron Paul | Ronald Reagan
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