Election Day 2008: The Best Blogs and Social Media Resources

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barack-obama-talking-with-john-mccainUpdate 1 Nov 2008: We’ve added several links. Thanks to Jackie Sheeler for making the first suggestion. Feel free to add more in the comments!

The 2008 US presidential election will be over in about 100 hours (unless Florida can’t make up its mind again).

There are, in fact, other elections as well next Tuesday. But of course we all know the real battle is Obama vs. Palin – er, McCain.

Without further ado (and before the comment firestorm begins below), The Blog Herald presents the best blogosphere and social media destinations to track Election Day 2008, in no particular order:

1. CNN Political Ticker – Yes, it’s a mainstream media site. But it’s also a blog. The differences are so blurry now in 2008 anyway. :) It’s common to see hundreds of comments on a post here as Election Day approaches. You can subscribe to twice-daily email alerts if you don’t want the barrage of zero-hour coverage to disturb your day off from work. Bias: Obama. [Read more…]

BlogCatalog Launches Political Blogging Channel

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BlogCatalog, the self-proclaimed ‘fastest-growing social network for bloggers,’ has launched a new Political Channel, hoping to engage millions of members in the political process.

“As we approach the Democratic and Republican conventions, BlogCatalog’s Political Channel will serve as a benchmark of what is on the minds of mainstream political bloggers across America,” stated Tony Berkman, BlogCatalog CEO. “With almost 5,000 political bloggers and 114,000 non-political bloggers already part of the BlogCatalog conversational ecosystem, BlogCatalog is the Internet’s leading destination for mainstream political bloggers to have their political voices heard, engage in the political debate, increase their blog’s exposure, and participate in lively discussion.”

New political channel features include:

– discussion area
– highlighted posts
– political social search
– political groups
– open call for writers

All bloggers listed in BlogCatalog are opt-in and must pass a 5-step qualifying process, reviewed by a BlogCatalog Analyst.

Presidential Hopeful McCain Gets New Blog

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This morning, Techcrunch wonders aloud if Google Trends can predict the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

We’re not sure if the number of searches for a candidates’ name is indicative of electoral success, but we do know that the Web can help shape today’s political landscape.

In the McCain vs. Obama battle, it is clear that Barack’s camp has been able to utilize the Web in ways other candidates have only been able to dream of up until this point. And with about 100 years separating the two men, Johnny M. is doing his part to see the fact that he is ‘hip.’ To that point, the presidential candidate has launched The McCain Report, a new daily blog that communicates with supporters, reporters and bloggers (maybe critics too).

According to the McCain Website:

The goal of this project is pretty straightforward: to provide journalists and bloggers with a little more insight into what’s going on over here, to provide quotes and information you won’t be able to get anywhere else, and to serve as a point of contact for online media.

You can check out The McCain Report here.