Hot Sites Take Voters for a Ride

Strange sort-of-political commentary is latest online fad
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 29, 2008 5:58 PM CST
Hot Sites Take Voters for a Ride
Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during a rally Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008, in Ft. Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)   (Associated Press)

Barackobamaisyournewbicycle.com is the latest internet fad: a simple web page that displays a seemingly inexhaustible supply of (likely fictitious) good deeds Barack Obama did for you. He "added you as a friend," "built you a robot," and "made you a mixtape," to start. But what, the Boston Phoenix asks, is the intent behind the site? A pro-Obama-mania celebration? A criticism of the candidate’s ethereal promises?

Neither, says its creator, Wired contributing editor Matt Honan, who started the site as a joke with his wife, a fervent Obama supporter. But regardless of intent, the site and knockoffs devoted to other candidates are barometers of real political feeling: John McCain “worries the neighborhood has gotten worse” while Hillary Clinton “is overusing emoticons” and “owns a Zune.” (More Barack Obama stories.)

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