This post continues my analysis of 2008 US Presidential election campaign websites. You can find a complete list at Politics. I'm going to start with a historical analysis of the campaign sites and bring things up to date. It's going to cover several posts, so enjoy the ride. I know I have so far and I've only written this one in this particular series. One of the things I'm always intrigued by is how messaging changes (if indeed it does) as campaigns move on through time, get their rhythm, find their stride, etc. For example, has the messaging changed since our first peek at campaign websites in this election cycle?
It's not what they say, it's how they say it
Perhaps you've known someone whose positions you agree with even though you don't like the person, or you like what they have to say and wish they'd use a little more tact in saying it? Politicians (more correctly, political speech writers) spend a great deal of time saying things just the way (they think) you want to hear it.
Given that a politician changing his or her stance in the middle of an election cycle would definitely make things interesting, I doubt it'll be done. Intentionally.
What they can do is change how they say it. This happened rarely if ever during the 2004 campaign season...except when the national conventions were being televised. The change in President Bush's campaign site changed (literally) overnight and didn't change back until the convention was over. The major change? Everything was geared to getting eyeballs from the computer to the TV.
So let's take a look at how messaging has changed over time this campaign cycle thus far...
