This report was compiled by Terry Dean, Librarian at the Institute of Governmental Studies Library at the University of California, Berkeley.

Table of Contents

Election 2004
Selected Websites 
 

With the 2004 presidential election approaching and a variety of Democratic hopefuls making the rounds drumming up support and financial commitments, it seemed appropriate to suggest some websites that might help in tracking the 2004 presidential, Congressional and gubernatorial elections - the issues, candidates, money and public opinion. This list is not intended to be comprehensive and of course, the minute it’s published it’s out of date. We look at it as a place to start if you need to start tracking the 2004 elections well over a year before the general election takes place, not on everybody’s radar screen, but certainly not too early for those involved in the campaigns, fund raising and poll taking and the e-inclined political junkie.

This list is culled from the “Internet Resources Gallery” at the Institute of Governmental Studies website, http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/gallery-us.html#TOP, which is maintained by Ron Heckart, Library Director of the IGS Library. If you have suggestions for additions to the list, please contact Ron, rheckart@library.berkeley.edu, or me, Terry Dean,  tdean@library.berkeley.edu.

Tracking the money

The Buying of the President (Center for Public Integrity) (http://www.bop2004.org/dtaweb/bop2004/) - a site devoted to fund raising and financial reporting by candidates.

Federal Election Commission (http://www.fec.gov/index.html) - created in 1975 to administer the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), the statute that governs the financing of federal elections, the FEC is the official source for campaign finance data for federal office seekers.

Opensecrets.org (http://www.opensecrets.org/)- tracks individual, corporate and PAC donors for presidential and congressional races. Although their 2004 presidential site isn’t up as of this writing, if it’s as good as their 2000 site, definitely worth checking out. Includes a “Who’s Giving” database which goes back to 1990.

PoliticalMoneyLine (http://www.tray.com/) – a great website for tracking campaign contributions by individuals and PACs for presidential, congressional and gubernatorial candidates. There are a variety of databases included here, some free, some by subscription.

"Soft Money Laundromat” (Common Cause http://www.commoncause.org/laundromat/) – database that tracks “soft money” to party committees. Although donations to individuals is not tracked, activity by corporations and individuals is monitored  and you can search by geography down to the city and state level.  

Media sites

C-SPAN.org: 2004 Vote (http://www.c-span.org/) – concentrating on Democratic candidates, links to Senatorial candidates and C-SPAN’s “Road to the White House” page. As of late April 2003, pretty basic but will certainly become more robust as the election draws near.  

CNN.com/Inside Politics (http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/) – emerging news stories on the reelection efforts of George Bush and Democratic Party initiatives to counter high approval ratings as a result of the Iraq war. As of late April 2003, pretty basic but like C-SPAN, will become much more lively as the election draws nearer.

Elections 2004
(Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/elections/2004/) – includes biographies of potential Democratic presidential contenders, list of senatorial and gubernatorial races, news stories on Democratic contenders and emerging election issues. 

White House 2004 (National Journal http://nationaljournal.com/members/campaign/2004/whitehouse/) – will be a hot site when it’s more fully developed but right now contains basic information re: Democratic contenders, early polling data, links to news coverage of the election, Democratic challengers’ speeches,  and Poll Track, National Journal’s polling arm, and The Hotline, National Journal’s electronic “Daily briefing on politics”.  

PoliticalWire.com (“Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire” http://www.politicalinsider.com/) -  daily list of news stories with links to full text, related stories and blogs for each.  In the “Links” section includes links to numerous political news publications including The Hotline and Roll Call. A good place to check a variety of election news sources in one place.

Additional selected media sites to monitor

 

ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/)

BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/)

MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.com/news/default.asp)

NPR (http://www.npr.org)

Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com)

Resource sites

e-democracy (http://www.e-democracy.org/us/) - if I’d found this site when I started this article I would have considered it done. A great place for following the e-presidential campaign. 

Latino Vote.com  (http://www.latinovote.com/) - “weblog of Latino political news”;  voter demographics, analysis, polls, links to related sites.

P2004: Race for the White House (Democracy in Action) (http://www.gwu.edu/~action/P2004.html) - from Democracy in Action’s mission statement,  “The purpose of this site is to provide a framework for you, the interested citizen, to intelligently follow the 2004 presidential campaign through original content and links to the best available sources of information.” 

P2004: Race for the White House (George Washington University) (http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eaction/2004/P2004.html) – this is a pretty thorough website dealing with all aspects of the presidential race, primary calendar and explanation of caucuses and primaries, candidate assessments, financial disclosure rules, etc.; includes links to related sites. 

Presidency 2004 (Politics1.com) (http://www.politics1.com/p2004.htm ) – extensive list of potential presidential candidates from all parties with bios, including candidates who have withdrawn. Site includes an extensive “political calendar” for 2003 and 2004 with dates of primaries and caucuses. Useful links to additional sites including polls. 

Project Vote Smart-2004 Presidential Candidates
(http://www.vote-smart.org/election_president.php) – listings of presidential candidates by party, primary dates, Electoral College votes/state, and links to additional sites. This site will probably become more robust as the campaign intensifies.

U. S. Electoral College (National Archives and Records Administration) (http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/electoral_college.html) - the official website of the Electoral College includes past Electoral College votes, procedures, “Electoral College calculator”, FAQs. 

Political Parties

Websites for the major political parties in the U.S. As of  late April, 2003,  most of them did not have well-developed sites focusing on the 2004 elections, but as the campaigns heat up they will offer official party platforms, critical dates, finance and candidate information.

Public opinion sites

The Gallup Organization (http://www.gallup.com/)  - one of the oldest polling organizations in the country, Gallup will conduct numerous presidential, congressional and gubernatorial polls.

Los Angeles Times Polls (http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/timespoll/) - includes nation-wide as well as California political polls.

Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc. (http://www.mason-dixon.com/latest.cfm) - an independent polling organization that conducts state-wide polls for lobbyists, interest groups, news media, political action committees.

The NES [National Election Studies] Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior (http://www.umich.edu:80/%7Enes/nesguide/nesguide.htm) - this guide provides political observers, policy makers, journalists, teachers, students, and social scientists with immediate access to tables and graphs that display the ebb and flow of public opinion and electoral behavior and choice in American politics since 1948. This is a good resource for studying the history of public opinion polls and polling in the U.S.

The Pew Research Center for People and the Press (http://people-press.org/ ) – “an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues."

“Poll Track” (National Journal) (http://nationaljournal.com/members/polltrack/2004/races/) - "latest campaign polls” on 2004 presidential, congressional and gubernatorial elections.

The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research (http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/)- includes series of presidential approval ratings for presidents back to Truman, and for GW Bush by date and polling organization. 

Washington Post Polls (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/polls.htm)

White House 2004 (PollingReport.com, http://www.pollingreport.com/wh2004.htm) -“an independent, nonpartisan resource on trends in American public opinion”.  The Polling Report offers a compilation of polling results from a variety of polling organizations on the 2004 presidential and congressional elections.

Zogby Poll Tracking  (Zogby International) (http://www.zogby.com/features/zogbytables.cfm) - a collection of polls, including international and New York state, and a good assessment of 2000 presidential election polls. Limited 2004 presidential tracking as of late April 2003, Bush v. potential contenders and Bush ratings, but will become more robust as election nears.