PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION AND INAUGURATION
Change.gov
President-elect Obama's transition web site.
SourceWatch Encyclopedia: Presidential Transition Resources
Council for Excellence in Government: Presidential Transition
The White House Transition Project
Program formed in 1997 to ease the transition between presidents. Includes resources from policy organizations, scholars, etc.
General Services Administration: Presidential Transition
Provides the services and facilities needed for the new administration's official duties. Helpful in tracking technology needs and other improvements (and costs) a new administration may have.
Government Accountability Office: 2009 Congressional and Presidential Transition
Library of Congress: Presidential Inaugurations
"I Do Solemnly Swear . . .": Presidential Inaugurations is a collection of approximately 400 items or 2,000 digital files relating to inaugurations from George Washington's in 1789 to George W. Bush's inauguration of 2001. This presentation includes diaries and letters of presidents and of those who witnessed inaugurations, handwritten drafts of inaugural addresses, broadsides, inaugural tickets and programs, prints, photographs, and sheet music.
Library of Congress: Inauguration Dates
Great for quick reference.
infoPlease: Inauguraton File
A treasure trove of facts and background, including media coverage, famous addresses, inaugural trivia, and life after the presidency.
WikiPedia: Inauguration Day
Includes history and traditions with the ceremony.
WikiPedia: Inauguration Day
Scroll to the bottom of the page for a chronological chart of details of details from past ceremonies.
TeacherVision: History of Presidential Inaugurations
Truman Library & Museum: Inauguration Quiz
Obama's Office of Urban Policy
Citizens can contribute ideas on policies to improve cities.
ELECTION RESOURCES
CNN Exit Polls Page
Look up races in your zip code
U.S. Election Atlas
A pay site that's full of past election statistics, including county-by-county presidential election results going back to the 1960s.
McCain for President
Obama for President
Washington Post Politics Coverage
In-depth coverage from the campaign trail., including blogs and other commentary.
The Caucus: NY Times Political Blog
The Trail: Washington Post Political Blog
LA Times: Top of the Ticket Blog
Chicago Tribune: The Swamp Blog
Political blog with a focus on the national elections.
CNN Cafferty File Blog
Political analyst Jack Cafferty's blog is often updated several times a day.
RealClearPolitics
Culls and publishes the best commentary, news, polling data, and links to important resources from all points of the political compass. The site's political commentary, blogs, election analysis and polling averages have been featured in several national media outlets, including The New York Times, FOX News, CNN, The Economist, etc.
Presidential Election Reader
A great feed of news stories, videos, blog updates and polls.
Politico.com
Covers politics in three areas: Congress and the constant flow of agendas, personalities and power struggles that define daily life on Capitol Hill; the 2008 presidential campaign; lobbying and advocacy.
Daily Dish
Andrew Sullivan's political blog.
PowerLine
Political blog that focuses on liberal media.
Politicker
Political insider blog.
Captain's Quarters
Must-read right wing blog.
Hit & Run
From Reason magazine.
Chicago Sun-Times: DNC Coverage
Blue Mass Group Blog
Crooks and Liars Blog
Dennis Byrne Blog
Disaboom Politcal Blog
Focuses on interests and issues of people with disabilities.
Square State Blog
Main focus is on Colorado politics but covers some of the national elections, too.
Washington Post Fact-Checker Blog
USA Today Politics
Poll tracking in all 50 states, electoral vote tracker, campaign ad tracker, stories, photos and blogs.
Google Election 2008 Resources
Yahoo! Election 2008 Resources
MSNBC Politics: Candidate Brain Trusts
Profiles of the top advisers to the presidential candidates.
MSNBC: Mayors' Cries to Help for Obama
Survey, presented as an image map, of advice to Obama from mayor's of large and small U.S. cities.
Sunlight Foundation: PoliticalPartyTime.org
This political watchdog group's blog tracks fundraising activities by parties and candidates.
FindLaw: Election 2008
Video, stories, documents and other materials relating to the 2008 Presidential Election.
National Association of State Election Directors
Scoop: Voting Advice
University of Michigan: Election Maps 2008
Analysis of voting maps, FAQ, etc.
Our Vote Live Nationwide Voting Data
State-by-state tabulation of voter problems from the 2008 elections.
League of Women Voters: Vote411.org
Voting information by state: deadlines, polling finders, ballot measures and more.
Federal Election Commission
FEC: How the Electoral College Works
FairVote.org
Operating for many years as the Center for Voting and Democracy, FairVote was founded in 1992 and tracks voter turnout, and research reports on election administration, among other things.
Election Assistance Commission
A national clearinghouse of information about election administration. Includes FOIAs, news center, voter information, etc.
Election Assistance Commission: Voter Turnout from Past Elections
Kaiser Family Foundation: Health '08
News links, podcasts, journalists' page, polls, analysis and more on the election and healthcare issues.
Kaiser Family Foundation: Candidate Healthcare Stances
Side-by-side comparison of Obama and McCain healthcare plans.
Center for Public Integrity: Paper Trail Blog
A non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern. The blog explores many political issues and tracks what politicians own, lobbying, etc.
Pew Internet & American Life Project
An initiative of the Pew Research Center, a nonprofit "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. Pew Internet explores the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic/political life.
MAPLight.org: Money and Politics
Database makes connections between legislative votes and campaign donations.
WSJ: 2008 Campaign Fundraising Totals
Access to this does not require a subscription to the WSJ.
FedSpending.org
Use this database to track what companies receive federal grants and contracts. You can sort by state, district, agency, etc.
HuffingtonPost.com: Fundrace
Use this interactive map and database to track presidential contributions by zip code, party, candidate,
USA Today Campaign Finance Tracker
Sunlight Foundation
Political watchdog group that tracks lobbyists and fundraising.
Everyzing
This search tool finds campaign-related audio/video.
Google Political Audio Indexing
Search audio from the presidential candidates on a specific topic.
Perspctv.com
Tracks news mentions, blog mentions and tracks other information on the presidential candidates.
Tech President
A great blog run by the Presidential Democracy Forum that tracks various campaign sites, postings on YouTube, etc. A great snapshot of how candidates are using the web.
PBS/YouTube: Video Your Vote
Site invites you to share your voting experience with a video post. Some of the best videos will be featured on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on Election Day.
WebMD: Compare Presidential Candidates' Health Stances
PBS Frontline: The Choice 2008
An in-depth look at the presidential candidates.
Open Congress: 50 Key Senate Votes
PolitiFact.com Truth-o-Meter
A project of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly, created the site to help voters separate fact from falsehood in the 2008 presidential campaign. Journalists and researchers from the Times and CQ will fact-check the accuracy of speeches, TV ads, interviews and other campaign communications.
SpinSpotter
An interesting piece of software tool that claims to expose news spin and bias, misuse of sources, and suspect factual support. Uses algorithms to spot spin keywords on sites you surf.
IRE's Campaign Finance Information Center
This site features a database of campaign finance story ideas and tips from reporters across the country.
Pollster.com
Gallup: Election 2008
Survey results on the presidential race and the issues.
The Associated Press Polls
This page lists links to recently released AP polls on various topics.
Harris Interactive Client News
Links to poll results on political issues.
Zogby International
Polling information on elections and other issues. Has a good newsroom section.
Guide to Public Opinion Poll Websites
Links galore from the Association of College and Research Libraries.
Twenty Questions Journalists Should Ask About Poll Results
FiveThirtyEight Pollster Blog
Named for the number of votes in the Electoral College, this blog is written by pollster Nate Silver, managing partner or Baseball Prospectus who created a system for making baseball player performance predictions.
Scripps Howard News Service: White House Candidate Rumors Poll
Electoral-Vote.com
Computer science professor tracks state polls and provides a graphic summary of the electoral vote outlook.
USA Today Presidential Poll Tracker
BuzzDash
Online polls on news, politics, sports, celebrities, etc.
Vote-Smart.org
Covers candidates and elected officials in five basic categories: biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances and interest group ratings.
Campaign Legal Center
FEC proceedings, media policies, redistricting, court cases, blog, press releases, links and other resources.
VoteView
Princeton site ranks how liberal or conservative politicians are, based on software and a spatial map tracking roll-call votes. The research is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation.
The Cato Institute
A non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institute is named for Cato's Letters, a series of libertarian pamphlets that helped lay the philosophical foundation for the American Revolution.
Common Cause
Election watchdog organization.
Black Box Voting
Voting watchdog group.
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)
Election Protection
The nation's largest nonpartisan voter protection coalition.
NewsMeat: Celebrity Political Donations
Database of celebrity donations to parties, candidates and special interest groups. (Claims to track them from 1978 to present.)
CJR Campaign Desk
A Columbia Journalism Review blog devoted to watchdogging the media.
Electionline.org
Opensecrets.org
A fantastic site for researching campaign financing statistics.
IRE's Campaign Finance Information Center
This site features a database of campaign finance story ideas and tips from reporters across the country.
Campaignfinance.org
Includes campaign finance research and a clearinghouse of key FOIA sites.
Campaign Finance Information Center
Use the handy image map to call up information by state.
FEC Info/Political Moneyline
Search PAC, soft money, lobby databases and more.
Federal Election Commission Home Page
Loaded with contribution statistics.
FEC: Detailed Files About Candidates, Parties and Other Committees
Information on contributors, including city, state and ZIP.
Politics1.com
Links to various races around the country.
Fund Race: Money Maps
Trace where presidential candidates get their money.
Roll Call: Politics Links
Links to dozens of think tanks, etc.
JudgePedia.org
A great election resource that tracks state supreme courts, their elections and news on judges.
Robert Niles: Questions to Ask Candidates
A great list of key questions for candidates at all levels. Great for new and intermediate reporters.
Obama's Family Tree
Chicago Sun-Times' Scott Fornek traces the presidential candidate's family tree and profiles key family members<./p>
The Progressive
Liberal political site.
Democratic National Committee
Republican National Committee
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Public Interest Research Groups
Consumer protection, environmental groups, dangerous toys, etc.
Our Vote Live
From the Election Protection Coalition, this site review in real-time reports of voter assistance calls made to 866-OUR-VOTE. It includes, maps, a blog and allows you to search reports.
Twitter Vote Report
Track wait times and other voting news live.
Newseum: On the Campaign Trail
PBS NewsHour
National Public Radio
Several great resources for political coverage.
Congressional Quarterly's Campaigns & Elections Magazine
The Hill
Magazine covers Capitol Hill.
Roll Call
Another publication covering Congress.
PBS: The American President
PBS Frontline: Government and Elections
A collection of companion Web sites on various political topics.
Dirty Money
The Environmental Working Group's site shows which elected representatives get the biggest contributions from the filthiest polluters. A dynamite database.
EnviroVote
A project by two journalism graduate students that aims to show the potential environmental impact of the 2008 elections.
Guide to Public Opinion Poll Websites
Links galore from the Association of College and Research Libraries.
PollingReport.com
A clearinghouse of election polls. Updated whenever they come out.
Voting in America: 1840-2008
Interactive maps, commentary and analysis on voting patterns.
C-SPAN Politics: Campaign 2008
E-Democracy
Election news, information and links.
Cursor.org
A handy collection of news and political stories.
Pew Forum: Religion Issues in 2008 Presidential Campaign
Beliefnet: The 12 Tribes of American Politics
Survey breaks down 12 religious voting blocs.
AAAS: Science & Technology in the 2008 Election
From the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Counter Punch Political Newsletter
Great commentary and super links section to political, economic and media sites.
Reliable Resources
Search state-by-state for political stories. Run by the Pew Center and USC.
Center for Public Integrity
A D.C. watchdog group that explores many issues and special interests.
Wisconsin Advertising Project
Studies campaign spending and advertising.
Almanac of American Politics
Key votes, committee changes and election results.
ElectionWorld.org
Elections around the world.
Elections and Electoral Systems Around the World
A collection of links to various election and electoral sites. Compiled by a UK academic.
Lijphart Elections Archive
Housed at the University of California, San Diego campus, is a research collection of district level election results for approximately 350 national legislative elections in 26 countries.
ElectionLine: State Election Law Charts
E-Democracy: U.S. Elections
An excellent politics portal.
National Review Online
National Review: Election 2008
News, blogs and more from the conservative publication.
U.S. House Clerk's Office: Election Statistics 1920-2002 Directory
The official vote counts for federal elections from the official sources among the various states and territories.
Campaign Finance Institute
Resources galore, including congressional statistics back to 1978, breaking news, interest groups, disclosure, election coverage and more.
FactCheck.org
Annenberg's political fact-checking resource.
CNN's Morning Grind
C-SPAN Politics: Campaign 2008
Speech and Transcript Center
Links to key speeches and transcripts (English language) by key government, military and other leaders. It also includes direct links to related full-text docs and other reference type materials.
Congressional Accountability Project
Site, which claims to fight corruption in Congress, offers information ranging from pay and perks to ethics.
Record Verification for Political Candidates
Check a candidates military record, etc.
National Personnel Records Center
A central repository of personnel-related records, both military and civil service. The site's mission is to "provide world-class service to government agencies, military veterans, former civilian Federal employees, family members, as well as researchers and historians."
Washingtonpost.com's On Politics
A deep site that includes a searchable database of all political races, sorted by state and federal levels.
CNN's AllPolitics site
Another great site for following the elections.
OpenDemocracy.net
A non-profit site who's aim is to stimulate debate on global issues. It is non-partisan and presents a range of views on any subject. For journalists, it is an invaluable source of quality background information on international relations, European and Islamic cultures, world opinion and much more. The media section currently features a multi-article debate on journalism and war, and a world media monitor of news coverage on SARS and the war on Iraq.
ABC News Politics Page
MSNBC Politics Page
BusinessWeek
Where to get coverage on Election Day.
Talking Points Blog
A left-leaning political blog.
Memeoandum
Focusing primarily on U.S. politics and current affairs, this site auto-generates a news summary every five minutes, drawing on experts and pundits, insiders and outsiders, media professionals and amateur bloggers.
MSNBC: MySpace Decision '08 Page
U.S. Department of Justice: Voting Rights
U.S. Department of Justice: Federal Voting Rights Laws
Youth04.org
Targeted to voters 18-25. Studies, discussions, etc. Hosted by the Center for Democracy and Technology but run by college students.
Stump
The Poynter Institute built this site to cover the California recall but continued it for the presidential campaign. Features various blogs, coverage, advertising, etc.
League of Conservation Voters
Scorecard on environmental issues.
The Libertarian Party
Conservative News Service
Places emphasis on its political position.
The Political Compass
Fill out this form to find out what political party you should be in. A fun site!
CapSteps.com: Political Satire
Politics1.com
Internet Public Library: Presidents of the United States
Past Inaugural Addresses
Presidential Libraries
Library of Congress: American Memory
TRAC Government Site
A super site developed by Syracuse University to guide you to and through several government sites, including the IRS, FBI, DEA and ATF.
TruthOut
A free politics and social issues newsletter.
The National Journal
A weekly on politics and government published in Washington, put out a Guide to the Web in its Dec. 8, 2001 issue that probably would be helpful because it includes lots of government sites.
The Political Network
Pop and Politics
WebWhiteBlue.org
Site's no longer live but is archived.
Media Research Center
A dynamite site that has some commentary on media coverage of the political scene.
Issues2000.org
Easy-to-use site to check where candidates stand on issues.
C-SPAN: Nixon Tapes 1971-73
Excerpts from his foreign relations dealings, Supreme Court issues, etc.
Counter Views
Run by a group of conservative political commentators who have have been in politics each for about two decades, this site has been used by many national media outlets. One hosts a political TV show, anotherhosts a political radio show, one is a Hoover Institute fellow and the otherthe former head of a west coast conservative think tank. Topics have included education reform, Enron, John Walker and campaign politics.
ThisNation.com
Dozens of resources for tracking politics.
Policy.com
Non-partisan site offers "unbiased news and analysis." It includes some great research and analysis on policy issues such as education, technology, environment and healthcare.
VoteLink.com
Votelink highlights current topics and newsmakers. Organized by business, politics, teen vote, etc.
Taxpayer.net
An advocacy group that touches on a variety of current issues. Includes links to news stories all over the globe.
Tax Policy Center
SelectSurf Politics Links
Links to several great politics sites.
Hardball with Chris Matthews
The Political Graveyard
This page tells us where dead politicians are buried. Search by name, state, cemetery name, etc.
Vote411.org
Non-partisan election coverage on the Democracy Network.
Spinsanity
This site breaks down political spin.
Center for Policy Alternatives/StateAction.org
Washington think tank.
30Issues Wiki
Part of the Brian Lehrer Show's 30 Issues in 30 Days on WNYC.
News21: Politics and the Environment
From the Carnegie-Knight initiative on journalism education.
University of Michigan Library: Political Science Resources
Mother Jones Political News Page
Links to dozens of current news stories.
Institute for Public Accuracy
As a nationwide group of policy researchers. Great source for public policy issues!
History and Politics Out Loud
A database of famous political speeches, including John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Winston Churchill and Richard Nixon. Search by speech title, speaker's name or date. Note: Your browser may need plug-ins to hear the audio.
California Voter Foundation
News, stats and studies.
NATO News.com
Dozens of global news updates and helpful links.
Capitol Hill Blue
Political news with a twist.
Statenet.com
Andrew Sullivan
A good politics site with an edge -- usually enjoyed by liberals, conservatives and moderates alike.
Mickey Kaus' KausFiles.com
Links, story ideas and spin from an author and public policy guru.
Adherents.com
A religion site that includes a list of religions of past presidents.
Political Site of the Day
From Totalnews.com.
American Rhetoric: Top Political Speeches of All-Time
Download video from the "speech bank."
SnagFilms
Browse political programming and other videos.
Talking Points Memo
Political commentary from Josh Marshall, a Washington, D.C.-based writer and former Washington Editor of the American Prospect. His articles on politics and culture have appeared in The American Prospect, The Columbia Journalism, Review, Feed, The New Republic, The New York Post, The New York Times, Newsday, Salon and Slate, among others.
Front Page.com
A right-wing political site edited by David Horowitz.
Sports Illustrated: Political Arena Politics
Essay on how sports and politics relate, photo galleries of athletes turned politicians.
TomPaine.com
A political journal with links to professional and personal posts.
The Rothenberg Political Report
HuffingtonPost.com
A good political site from the syndicated political columnist.
Taxpayers for Common Sense
Watchdog group on wasteful government spending. Site includes a media page and is organized by categories such as government contracts, energy, transportation, national security, etc.
Columbia Journalism Review Campaign Desk
Silobreaker: 2008 Election News
Ballot-Access.org
National Absentee Ballot Guide
Ballotpedia
A free wiki that offers information on ballots, ballot measures, ballot access for initiatives and candidates, petition drives, etc. It's sponsored by a group called Citizens in Charge Foundation. It offers a recent changes section and a good search tips page. It also has news linked and "Judgepedia" and "Sunshine Review" pages. Be careful to fact-check anything you use on a wiki site, as it can be edited by anyone..
ACLU Voting Rights
CivilRights.org: Voting Resources
VotoLatino
FreeRepublic.com
Conservative site news.
Lucianne.com
Chicago Council of Lawyers
Evaluations of judicial candidates and much more.
Adherents.com
A religion site that includes a list of religions of past presidents.
Amnesty International
Links to stories, studies and more.
Christian Coalition
Greenpeace
Environmental activist group.
National Coalition for the Homeless
NOW
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The Nation
A progressive journal on politics and culture.
National Freedom of Information Coalition
Political BS
Web-based political discussion forums and to government and media source around the world.
Electionline.org: Pew Center on the States
Center for Citizen Media: State Law: Documenting Your Vote
Center for Citizen Media: State Law: Documenting Your Vote
WorkingforChange.com
A left-leaning news and links site launched in spring of 2000 is owned by the liberal long-distance telephone company Working Assets./p>
ABC News: Match-o-Matic
Match your opinions with the presidential candidates'.
Chiefs of State Specialized Biography Search
Prominent Anarchists Specialized Biography Search
Pew Center's The People, The Press Research Center
Polls, articles and helpful links.
American Politics Journal
A hilarious parody site.
Idealist.org
Nerve.com
The Warren Ellis Forum
Scoop08: National Student Newspaper Election Coverage
First online national student newspaper will cover the 2008 elections.
PBS: The American Experience - The President
A great interactive video site that lets you pick a question that a past president will answer in a video. (Examples: "How Influential is the First Lady?" and "How Do You End a War?"
PublicCampaign.org: Clean Elections
How public financed elections work.
Nieman Reports: Politics and New Media
Nieman Reports: Linking Newspapers to the Best Political Coverage
Nieman Reports: Young Reporters, New Tools and Political Reporting
Nieman Reports: Election Coverage Becomes Time for 'Instant Innovation'
Nieman Reports: Campaign 2008 - It's on YouTube
Poynter: History of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions
Links to historical resources and information dating back to the 1850s.
PBS: The American Experience
Explores history of U.S. Presidents.
National Voting Rights Museum
Library of Congress: Votes for Women Timeline
ComputerWorld: Voting Technology
RTNDA: Avoiding Election Day Problems
A great list of tips and advice from legal counsel.
WorldChanging.com
A 501(c)3 media organization that "comprises a global network of independent journalists, designers and thinkers covering the world's most intelligent solutions to today's problems."
DEBATES
Poynter.org: Past Presidential Debates
An archive of links to media coverage, books, etc.
The Presidential Debate Blog
Museum of Broadcast Communications: History of Presidential Debates
Commission on Presidential Debates
POLITICAL ADVERTISING
PBS: The 30-Second Candidate
A look inside political advertising. Historical timeline, transcript of show. Create your own ad.
Political Ad Media Buying
Harvard professor on political ad buying strategy.
CNN Video: Voters React to Negative Campaign Ads
Yahoo! Political Advertising Page
Dozens of links to useful sites.
University of Iowa: Political Advertising Articles and Links
Archived from 2004.
The Living Room Candidate
Video of presidential campaign commercials 1952-present.
ICue
An NBC News video archive site used for education. Includes a lot of political video.
Cyberjournalist: Nieman Reports Articles on Politics and New Media
Center for Media and Democracy Source Watch
IDs PR firms, think tanks, industry-funded organizations that work on political ads and special interests.
Twitter 2008 Election
Sign up for various Twitter feeds off the election.
Twitter: NPR Politics
A great blog on timely media and technology topics.
REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTIONS
Republican National Convention
Democratic National Convention
Twitter Feeds from the Democratic National Convention
Denver Post: Politics West Democratic National Convention Coverage
Includes a link to convention reporting from all 50 states.
Rocky Mountain News: DNC Coverage
Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Republican National Convention Coverage
St. Paul Pioneer Press: Republican National Convention Coverage
Chicago Tribune: 1968 Democratic National Convention
Stories, historical video and more from the demonstrations and violence at the convention 40 years ago in Chicago.
SARAH PALIN LINKS
Sarah Palin Official Web Site
Archive of speeches, bio, etc.
Video and Transcript of Palin Resignation
Huffington Post: Sarah Palin Page
On the Issues: Sarah Palin
Blog Posts About Palin Resignation
Google News: Sara Palin Stories
WikiPedia: Sarah Palin
YouTube: Sarah Palin Videos
NPR: Palin RNC Acceptance Speech
Audio and full transcript.
PolitiFact.com Truth-o-Meter
A project of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly, created the site to help voters separate fact from falsehood in the 2008 presidential campaign. Journalists and researchers from the Times and CQ will fact-check the accuracy of speeches, TV ads, interviews and other campaign communications.
SpinSpotter
An interesting piece of software tool that claims to expose news spin and bias, misuse of sources, and suspect factual support. Uses algorithms to spot spin keywords on sites you surf.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Republican National Convention Coverage
St. Paul Pioneer Press: Republican National Convention Coverage
