I’m part of a class known as “taxpayers”–aren’t you? Check out these Bush campaign web pages our dollars are buying…
- Office of Management and Budget main page
- “President Bush has focused on winning the war on terror, protecting the homeland and strengthening the economy to create jobs. He has built an impressive record of accomplishments. His FY2005 budget built on that record with important proposals to support our national priorities”.
- “eGov” home page
- Contains no useful information but features a big photo of Bush taking credit for “E Government”. Links to articles promoting Bush role in E Government are central and prominent; a few small text links in the sidebar target online government information.
- The US government’s official web portal
- “FirstGov” contains exactly two “Also of interest” banner ads–both link to pro-Bush pages described above.
- “The President’s Record of Achievement” hosted on the official White House website
- “Such times demand a leader of clear convictions and determination, hope and vision, integrity and the courage to act. These qualities are the hallmarks of the Bush Presidency. There is much that remains to be done….”
How can we fix campaign financing when tax dollars get sucked into one campaign’s treasure chest?
And how can we have campaign fairness when that candidate gets a free hourlong TV ad by claiming he plans a “major policy speech“?
I guess those are the kinds of tricks you have to try when your candidate needs all the help he can get.
Thanks to Shaula Evans (Blogging of the President) for the pointer to whitehouse.gov’s campaign re-design. And, from comments on her post, check out “Cutting the Deficit in Half.”