10 Links a Day: Election Tools

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Election Tools

Thanks to Lifehacker for bringing us today's tools to make an educated decision on the upcoming vote. It's a very, very important vote. Please time to make sure you make an EDUCATED decision. Take a look at what we are bringing you today. I hope this helps you to the right decision on whom you support.

Todays' 10 Links a Day: Election Tools

SelectSmart's 2008 Presidential Candidate Selector gives you the skinny on the major-topic stances of every candidate, including most of the third-party contenders.

Get your video fix at YouTube's You Choose '08.

Spending's become a much-debated issue, at least in this part of the race to the White House. This Google Earth layer adds pinpoints wherever appropriated money is being sent, although it leans heavily toward military and homeland security bills.

In Quotes lets you type a term and see how Obama and McCain referenced it in speeches, interviews, and other places.

GAudi, the YouTube-searching audio index tool, does basically the same thing, but points you to specific points in a video where they said it. Oddly enough, neither candidate has said anything so far about Google, Gmail, or YouTube, according to those tools.

Google's Voter Info Map, run as a partnership with the League of Women Voters, makes short work of finding out if you can still register, where you go to vote, where to grab an absentee ballot, and your local board of elections web site.

Vote early with a no-excuse absentee ballot.The Early Voting Information Center runs down the particulars of getting the jump on your right as a citizen.

Track developing stories on blogs and news sites.Microsoft's Political Streams, part of its Live Labs, follows news stories across blogs, portals, and other aggregators, tracking how often, and for how long, it's getting linked and written about. Google's revamped blog search is more specific to blog-generated articles and the buzz they generate.

Track fund raising and donations by candidates (and your neighbors). Want to see what interests, businesses, and individuals the candidates are helping line the candidates war chests? OpenSecrets.org has maps, graphs, and details that can keep you busy for days.