In the beginning, presidential candidates had to win over voters personally, one kiss on a baby's cheek at a time. Then came the broadcast media revolution and hopefuls learned to project their messages to the masses over the airwaves. Now, as more and more Americans use the Internet for campaign information -- 24 percent according to The Internet's Broader Role in Campaign 2008 from the Pew Research Center -- candidates have to master another medium: the Web.

Wielding the Power of the Web

Marketing research firm RelevantView and online sample provider Greenfield Online partnered to determine how well each of the five presidential candidates is wielding Web power.

RelevantView Founder and CEO Marshall Harrison pointed out that candidates' sites play an important role in voters' decision-making processes.

"Candidates can't deal with details in debates or ads. So voters go online to digest their technical specs -- their detailed stands on issues. That's where candidates seal the deal," said Harrison.

RelevantView developed a survey to determine how users aligned with candidates before and after site visits, how easily users could access specific information on sites and how site experiences impacted users' overall views of candidates.

About the Survey

The survey, conducted from February 6-8, used RelevantView's state-of-the- art market research technology, with Greenfield Online supplying the 780 respondents. Each user was sent to one site, based on self-identification as a Democrat, Republican or Independent. Prior to site visit, respondents were asked questions about their assigned candidate stand on four key issues:

  --  Healthcare
  --  Taxes and Spending
  --  The War in Iraq
  --  Immigration

Then, in a process enabled by RelevantView's proprietary technology, respondents were asked those same questions while visiting candidates' site.

Fascinating Findings

In a telling measure of the various candidates sites' overall effectiveness, more than half of the respondents had "more favorable" views of Paul, Huckabee and Obama after visiting their sites. Comparatively, 44 percent of users found McCain more favorable post-site visit, while only 36 percent said they felt more favorable toward Clinton after visiting her site.

"Our survey showed that a candidate's site's effectiveness has a significant effect on voters' overall view of a candidate. That's incredibly powerful!" Harrison said.

  Download a free copy of the full report:
  http://www.relevantview.com/politicalreport.htm