Technology & Civic Engagement

Elizabeth Wakefield, Satara Williams, Ryan Cochrane, Alexandra Dill

We found the websites of Senator John McCain(www.johnmccain.com) and Texas Secretary of the State Phil Wilson (http://www.sos.state.tx.us/about/sosbio.shtml).
Senator John McCain is currently running for President of the United States in the 2008 national election. Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson was re-elected for Texas Secretary of State in July of 2007.
Senator John McCain's biggest issue to discuss is the current war in Iraq and he plans onunveiling a new strategy for victory in the war. McCain vows to rally our democratic allies to secure a broader peace across nations. He wishes to reform the government through bringing spending under control, decreasing the amount of vetos that are dismissed, spending bills every time as well as keeping national taxes at a minimum. McCain also vows to reform healthcare across the nation. McCain sets himself apart from other candidates by promising his actions will be beneficial for the nation, unlike any Democratic candidate.
Texas Secretary of the State Phil Wilson's largest concerns are that of fair elections and increasing voter participation across the state. Wilson promises to increase voting across the state of Texas while making it a more accessible, easy, and more secure. Currently, Wilson has no opponents seeking election due to the fact that his last opponent stepped down before the election.
John McCain uses his website to promote his service to the country in the military, his experienced leadership as Senator of Arizona, his bold solutions for the issues, and his willingness to get people involved in elections across the nation.
Phil Wilson uses Public Service Announcements on his website to promote his campaign. Wilson also utilizes a Podcast to make his past speeches available to the public.
For both McCain and Wilson, the internet is pivotal to their election campaigns in that both have links for donating money toward their causes as well as looking at both candidates past campaign efforts as well as contact email addresses and a link for citizens to sign up to vote. McCain in particular has an online store as well as a Facebook and Myspace profile.
The major differences between McCain and Wilson's websites is that McCain is a NATIONAL candidate, thus he has more money to utilize for a more advanced website, greater means of funding, and he has a more national appeal to people in that he's running for the top political position in the nation. Wilson's website is different in that he has very specific issues that relate to Texas and the position of Secretary of State. Because he is a state politician, his position is lesser known than that of say the Governor or President. Wilson's campaign budget is much smaller than that of McCain, thus his resources are more limited to the pressing issues of his office.