CHRIS DODD
WEB SITE chrisdodd.com
LOOK FOR The way Dodd uses the anniversary of the trials at Nuremberg (his father, Senator Thomas Dodd, was a lead prosecutor there) for a meditation on America’s fallen standing in the world
LAUGH AT The name his campaign has given to his team of supporters: the Dodd Squad
GRADE C+ |
Chris Dodd has enormous, imposing black eyebrows and an impeccably coiffed head of snow-white hair. (I know this because I’ve seen both up-close after finding myself sitting next to him downtown at Kitty O’Shea’s during the ‘04 Democratic Convention.) Dodd’s Web site, alas, is nowhere near as handsome as he, from the grainy image of the candidate, looking as if it was photographed off a TV, to the ugly, spindly fonts and the rather simplistic, as opposed to just simple, design sense. Of course, it’s the substance of a politician’s message that really matters, and Dodd does offer substantial multimedia opportunities to learn about his policy proposals. But image counts for a lot in politics — too much, in fact — and this site is sorely lacking. Dodd scores points for utilizing the Latino social-networking site MyGrito, however, and also for his regularly updated Twitter page, which allows you to obsess over his whereabouts and goings-on at any hour of the day.
DENNIS KUCINICH
WEB SITE dennis4president.com
LOOK FOR A clip from MSNBC in which Tucker Carlson asks why — apart from his short stature and the UFO thing — Kucinich is not the Democratic front-runner: “He’s more of a Democrat than Hillary Clinton!”
LAUGH AT The marketing wizards who dreamed up the “$50 for a signed pocket constitution by Dennis for the first 1000 people who act now!”
GRADE B |
Not long ago, if you googled the Kooch’s name, his Wikipedia entry showed up before his official Web site did. Our best guess is that’s because so many incredulous members of the electorate were scrambling to the Web looking for information on how he snagged such an improbably hot wife. Now that the initial shock has worn off that this tiny, leprechaun-looking man is married to a statuesque, flame-haired siren, dennis4president.com — hey, who knew he was a Prince fan? — has been restored to Google-search supremacy. It’s a fine Web site. More interesting, however, are some of the sites it links to. Every week, Kucinich staffers upload a produced, evening-news-style program to YouTube in which a fake anchor (actress Anne Marie Howard) runs down the campaign’s week in review. Another link takes one to a commondreams.org article describing his courtship of his young and pulchritudinous bride, Elizabeth. Still more YouTube videos follow Elizabeth, who’s English, on whistle-stop tours all over the US of A. Dennis Kucinich will never win the presidency. But he and his wife could have a center-square residence on a certain Hollywood game show in their future.
Related:
See spot run, The shape of things to come, Wising up, More 
- See spot run
The roughly 205,000 campaign ads that have run on American TV so far this primary season have undoubtedly played a major electoral role.
- The shape of things to come
The Democratic front-runners and the Republican establishment will be making critical decisions in the coming weeks that will shape the course of the race.
- Wising up
According to the latest conventional wisdom, Hillary Clinton is threatening to turn the Democratic presidential-nomination race into a rout.
- The X factors
Sure, the polls show Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton ahead in their quests for their respective parties’ nominations.
- Profile polling
Facebook and MySpace represent the easiest and most efficient method of assessing compatibility for a friend, a potential hook-up, or a presidential candidate.
- Rallying cries
Though the press focuses on organization, tactics, and fundraising, campaigns are won by unifying ideas.
- About-face time
Conventional wisdom says that debates help everyone but the front-runner in the polls, because they give the pack exposure and face time next to the leader.
- Who’s with whom — and why?
Now that first-quarter campaign-finance reports have been filed, we can see which presidential candidates scooped up money from which Bay Staters.
- Diagnostic politics
It’s an unfortunate fact of American political life that one’s entire personal life becomes public the minute one runs for office.
- Going the distance
So far the media storyline on Campaign 2008 is how extraordinary this year’s race has been, with the process dominated by upsets and a renewed call for change.
- The long-winded, winding road
Politicians have always been prone to clichés and adages.
- On the national affront
Where does one begin to recap 12 months of such willful self-parody?
- Less
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News Features
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