AFL-CIO Working Families Vote 2008

Working Families Vote 2008 is an important resource for union members and working men and women who want to play a part in choosing the country’s next president. The website offers a comprehensive voter guide with information on key working family issues and the presidential candidates’ records and positions on those issues. The website provides details on all viable declared and exploratory presidential candidates seeking nomination. AFL-CIO provides users with links to videos, blogs on a variety of campaign issues, and a clickable state-by-state map. Through the site, you can also access information on polls, data regarding working family issues and register to vote.

League of Women Voters

The website of the League of Women Voters includes details on specific candidates and issues in addition to providing general information on voting basics. There is a list of top issues in the left navigation bar where users can access important information on such items as campaign financial reform and health care reform. From the “Projects” drop-down menu, click on “Voter Information” where the League allows you to get registered, educated and ready to vote. This is an especially valuable aspect of the site, which allows you to review “Election Basics” and the “Frequently Asked Questions”—handy resources to make sure you are in the know on everything from the Electoral College to the different ways to cast your vote. Through the site, you can also access a separate site managed by the LWV. This site, www.vote411.org, allows you to search by state, access details on candidate, register to vote or find your local polling location.

Congress.org

Congress.org, a service of Capitol Advantage, is an excellent site for researching an assortment of congressional topics. From the homepage, click on “Election” to access the Election 2008 section of the site. There is also a map where you can click to access state voter guides, an excellent tool for finding out information specific to your area, including state and congressional races. Or, you can simply type in your ZIP code and state of registration to view a list of races in your area. At the bottom of the page, you can click on any of the presidential candidates to access more detailed information. You can also access other useful sections of the site. Click on “Issues and Actions” to learn about issues and calls to action by a variety of groups and organizations. “Legislation” allows you to access information on current legislation, and “Soapbox” is the site’s version of a message board. The site makes it easy for you with a link to “Register to Vote” and an explanation of “Capitol Hill Basics.”

OpenSecrets

OpenSecrets is the website of the Center for Responsive Politics and provides the public with a guide to how money is being used in U.S. elections. Through this site, you can educate yourself on campaign finance law, the Federal Election Commission and other basics about the center and its mission. Through tabs on the top of the screen, you can discover “Who Gives” and “Who Gets” as well as accessing current news and searching various databases on campaign finances. The site also provides overviews for each candidate’s campaign funding and spending and allows you to compare the spending habits among the different candidates and parties.

Project Vote Smart

Project Vote Smart, which labels itself “the voter’s self-defense system,” is committed to providing voters with “abundant, accurate, unbiased and relevant information about those who govern us and those who wish to replace those who do.” Project Vote Smart consists of interns and volunteers who aim to educate by providing free access to information and refusing to accept funding from any corporations or organizations that support or oppose candidates or issues. The website includes details on candidates and elected officials with a focus on certain basic categories: biographical information, voting records, issue positions, interest group ratings, public statements and campaign finances. The website provides particularly thorough information on a candidate’s position on a variety of issues through its Political Courage Test, where candidates are asked “Are you willing to tell citizens positions on the issues you will most likely face on your behalf?”

1st Headlines

Save yourself a visit to a search engine through 1st Headlines. This site provides links to the current top political headlines from news carriers throughout the country, updated every hour. In addition, colored tabs at the top of the screen allow you to access headlines on other subjects, including “US & World” and “Lifestyles.” In the right sidebar, all sections of the site are listed with subheads to access specific sections of the site. For example, click on “Hillary Clinton,” “John McCain,” or “Barack Obama” under Politics for a subject-specific index of news articles.