Politics / May. 19, 2008 at 1:57 pm

DNC launches McCainpedia

The Democratic National Committee announced in a press release today the launch of McCainpedia.com, an “electronic encyclopedia” containing “raw facts and research of John McCain’s record” compiled by the DNC. Unlike many other wikis, McCainpedia is run by the DNC’s Research, Communications, and Internet teams, and only DNC staff will be able to edit the content (as opposed to public wikis, like Wikipedia).

Articles on McCainpedia are divided by issue, and users can browse articles by categories such as “Iraq,” “Middle class” and “Bush Tax Cuts.” One category, titled “Anger,” logs the Senator’s displays of a “divisive and angry attitude.” The site appears to preach to the choir, and there is little to no attempt at bipartisanship. But for Democrats looking for some anti-McCain fodder, it could prove useful.

The new site joins a number of other Web sites in the race between the two major parties for complete Internet saturation. In addition to McCainpedia, the Democratic Party also runs FlipperTV, which catalogues video from McCain’s campaign taken by Democrats. On the Republican side, CanWeAsk.com offers users a chance to submit questions to Barack Obama. (It doesn’t say whether the questions will actually be offered up to the Senator.) The title of CanWeAsk.com is a response to the Obama-centric music video, “Yes We Can.”

As the light at the end of primary season tunnel gets brighter, both parties are beginning to focus their efforts on defeating the presumptive nominee from the other side. There is no doubt that McCain will be the Republican nominee, and despite the fact that he is still does not have the 2,025 delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination, Obama’s 1,908 delegates puts him within striking distance, and many — including, judging by the articles on their main Web site, the GOP — have accepted him as the presumptive nominee. Nonetheless, Hillary Clinton took time to remind Obama today that the primary season is not over and there is not yet an official nominee.

If you don’t count Florida and Michigan, Clinton trails Obama by 189 delegates. There are still 235 delegates up for grabs in Kentucky, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota. Primary season ends June 3.

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