What I Meant to Say Was...

My pal and colleague Robbie recently sent the following to me:

"If you're as fascinated as me about the role of the web in this year's big election, check this out:

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/07/mccain-campaign.html."

One of the most effective tactics a politician can use against an opponent is to show them contradicting themselves.  To that end, an automated "change-tracking" service called Versionista has been employed by the McCain campaign to compare Barack Obama's tweaks to his policy statements regarding the Iraq War.  Versionista is based on the same concept as Wikipedia – that encyclopedia of democracy – where updates people make to entries are followed over time so you can watch the world argue with itself over what constitutes the "truth."

Back in November, the DNC launched "Flipper TV," the video equivalent of Versionista, which pools and compares campaign footage filmed by citizen journalists with digital cameras.  The idea behind both concepts is to capture contradictions that candidates make during campaigns.

Check out the article; it's an interesting side-by-side comparison of how a candidate's views reflect the audience they're addressing and the changes in popular opinion that influence their rhetoric... This is what mash-ups were meant for: using technology to help you evaluate your options.