CNN continues to amaze. This is also from the same program last night. They get into it all: his financial ties (and his wife’s) to Keating, his anger problems, and the scandal it caused. One thing to be aware of: McCain’s stock answer excusing him from the scandal is that Bob Bennett said he did nothing wrong. True…but Bob Bennett is his lawyer!

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Searching for John McCain is a massive, online activism campaign designed to make at least ten million non-partisan, poll-tested, on-message voter contacts that reveal the damning truth about John McCain entirely through mainstream news reports and McCain’s own words. Through mass blogger participation and the use of embedded hyperlinks, Searching for John McCain will connect millions of curious, low-information swing voters to negative, mainstream news articles about John McCain without 99% of those voters even knowing that Searching for John McCain exists. It is the more sophisticated, and hopefully more effective, 2.0 version of the Googlebomb the Elections campaign which, with only $1,500 and three days of work, reached 6% of the electorate in 47 swing congressional districts during the final two weeks of the 2006 mid-term elections.

You can participate if you have a website of your own, if you make comments on other websites, or even if you are a registered user on a community website. It is quick. It is easy. It is free. And it is very, very effective. If it is done correctly, and if enough people participate, this campaign alone should cost John McCain 1% of the vote in November.

To learn how to participate, and to learn how it will work, read on into the extended entry.

Searching for John McCain
What
The utilization of simultaneous, widespread embedded hyperlinks in order to connect voters looking for information on John McCain to nine revealing, important news articles on John McCain.

Why
According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the number one way that voters use the Internet for political action is to search for information on candidates. In 2004, 34 million Americans used the Internet for this purpose. In 2008, that number will increase significantly, possibly to 50 million or more, with tens of millions looking for information on John McCain. As these voters are looking for information on John McCain, our actions will direct them toward nine articles in particular. Voters are looking for information on John McCain, and we are giving it to them.

These nine articles were not chosen lightly. Analyzing and interpreting polling has long been one of the specialties as a blogger, and I have spent the last three months culling through mountains of available polling on John McCain in order to find the top attacks. All nine of these articles directly correspond to messaging on John McCain that, according to my research, effectively raises doubts about McCain among more than 60% of swing voters.

Additionally, six of these nine articles are from news organizations that already boast top twenty-five Google search rankings for either “John McCain” or “McCain.” As such, in order for those six articles to appear in the top twenty Google searches on either John McCain or McCain, we only have to optimize each of those articles relative to other articles from that news organization. That is a very simple, low-hanging fruit sort of task that can be accomplished in only a matter of days.

Further, this messaging is presented by either John McCain himself, or by a non-partisan news organization (or, in most cases, both). As such, the messaging will not be, or be seen as, a partisan attack, making it all the more effective. Personally, I also like that when the inevitable media and conservative outcry against this action kicks in, we can just say that these are all McCain’s own words, and all articles produced by national news organizations. Considering that Michelle Malkin claimed Google should sue me over the Googlebomb campaign two years ago, that her readers issued dozens of death threats against me, and that every single TV news organization contacted me about the campaign two years ago, I really like this aspect of the campaign.

Finally, all of these articles have “McCain” in the title of the article, and most have “McCain” in the URL for the article, making them easier to optimize on Google.

The Articles
Here are the nine articles:

1–John McCain Votes to Filibuster Minimum Wage Hike
AOL News is highly ranked on John McCain, and the minimum wage increase was incredibly popular.

2–McCain housing policy shaped by lobbyist
This article emphasizes how corporate special interests have formed McCain’s economic policy. If it becomes the top ranked MSNBC article, it will appear in the top ten searches for McCain nationwide.

3–Bush, McCain plug Social Security
Seniors are going to be the key swing vote in this election, and they hate Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security. This is the best polling message against McCain of all, which isn’t surprising since our victory on Social Security is how began to turn the tide against Republicans and conservatives three years ago. The headline alone ties McCain to Bush, and this article already ranks very high on searches for McCain Social Security.

4–McCain blasts Obama’s and Clinton’s attacks on NAFTA
This is a great article because it not only ties McCain to NAFTA, which is quite unpopular, but it also draws a contrast between McCain and Democrats on the issue. The LA Times is also in the top twenty searches for John McCain.

5–McCain in NH: Would Be “Fine” To Keep Troops in Iraq for “A Hundred Years”
McCain’s “100 years” statement ha damaged him already, and this article has already been significantly optimized on Google. While Mother Jones is not an ideal news source, it is the top article for this quote, and appears in the top thirty searches for John McCain already.

6–McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion
This is my personal favorite. The headline just makes McCain look like an asshole, and ties him to Bush. Who is opposed to health insurance for kids? CNN also is in the top ten searches for McCain and John McCain A lot of people will see this one.

7–Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition
While I am not thrilled about using Salon, since it isn’t as well known, and since there is an advertising wall that hides the story, the title is damaging enough. McCain’s opposition to the GI Bill really hurts him, and tying him to Bush is just as bad. This title does both in a clear, straightforward manner.

8–McCain says overturn the law that legalized abortion
Pretty straightforward, and extremely important. More than half of all women voters think that McCain is pro-choice. This will quickly change their minds.

9–McCain Defends Bush’s Iraq Strategy
The classic McCain SEO, that still appears in top thirty searches for McCain and John McCain. It is also proof positive that this campaign will work, because it appears as the second CBS news article, but still on the front page in Google searches just below the CBS election center information on John McCain. That is all we need to do to get it on the front page of searches about McCain–optimize it against other CBS articles. Also, even though this SEO campaign was abandoned fifteen months ago, it still ranks in the top forty in McCain searches. If a fifteen month old campaign is still that effective, imagine what we can do with enough participation in this campaign.

Even if people searching for information on McCain don’t click through to read each of these articles, the titles alone collectively paint a pretty terrifying picture of McCain. Further, their wide subject range will create a trickle down effect for all kinds of searches on McCain. When people look for specific information on McCain’s issue positions, these articles will appear in the top ten for many, if not most, of those searches.

Action
And now the important part. Here is how you can participate in the campaign:

1. Blogroll John McCain: If you have a website of your own, create a blogroll link for either McCain or John McCain, that links to one of these nine articles.

2. Sign John McCain: Put an embedded John McCain link to one of these nine article in your signature line on all community websites where you are registered. Choose any one of the nine that you like.

3. Comment on John McCain: Whenever you write the words John McCain or McCain online, makes sure to do so with an embedded link to one of these nine article. Choose any of the nine that you link.

And that is all you have to do. If we can get only a few hundred bloggers to participate, we should be able to put six of these nine articles in the top twenty search results for John McCain and McCain before the end of next week. Over time, all nine should appear in the top twenty, and three or four will appear in the top ten. In the end, this should result in several million voter contacts that provide important information on John McCain. The contacts will all be effective, poll tested, non-partisan, and in line with progressive messaging in this election. They will also be educational, as the people who find these articles might forward them to friends and co-workers, or bring them up in conversations. The ripple effect should be quite powerful.

So, please, optimize John McCain today. Put John McCain in your blogroll. Put John McCain in your signature line. Link to John McCain whenever you type his name on a website. This is a quick and powerful action you can take, and it will help us win this election. There isn’t another action you can take this election that will have anywhere near as a high a return for the amount of effort it takes to execute. Millions of truly effective voter contacts just by creating embedded hyperlinks on John McCain or McCain. Let’s do this. Let’s make a difference. Let’s win this election. Let’s search for John McCain.

UPDATE: The first article about the recession being “psychological” has been replaced due to an oversight on my part. It now optimizes John McCain on the minimum wage. Really, I think this is an improvement. Please update your links if you used the first one originally

There are nine articles Bowers is trying to Google Bomb to the top of the Google search results. Here is a listing of them and where they currently rank now for searches on both [john mccain] and [mccain].

(1) John McCain Votes to Filibuster Minimum Wage Hike : 34th result for [john mccain] and 33rd result for [mccain].

(2) McCain economic policy shaped by lobbyist : 77th result for [john mccain] and 66th result for [mccain].

(3) Bush, McCain plug Social Security : 104th result for [john mccain] and 34th result for [mccain].

(4) McCain blasts Obama’s and Clinton’s attacks on NAFTA : not found for [john mccain] and 44th result for [mccain].

(5) McCain in NH: Would Be “Fine” To Keep Troops in Iraq for “A Hundred Years” : 21st result for [john mccain] and 85th result for [mccain].

(6) McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion : 42nd result for [john mccain] and not found for [mccain].

(7) Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition : 62nd result for [john mccain] and 39th result for [mccain].

(8) McCain says overturn the law that legalized abortion : not found for [john mccain] and not found for [mccain].

(9) McCain Defends Bush’s Iraq Strategy : 27th result for [john mccain] and 27th result for [mccain].

Please understand that for all searches I had personalized search off. Also note that Google’s search results are frequently changing in placement for many reasons. In this case, relevant results for John McCain are constantly being included in Google’s index, which may change placement for these results. Plus, as news sites add more stories about the same individual, Google may remove or indent some of those results.

Having said that, Google has been working to address the Google Bomb issue. In the classic George Bush example, the word ‘failure’ was not on the page. But in these cases, John McCain’s name is on the page - so it will be hard for Google to drop out these results in a Google Bomb.

If you are anything like me, you are sick and tired of the national image of John McCain as some sort of independent, principled, Republican moderate. Examples of McCain’s departure from the Bush administration’s agenda are truly few and far between. Despite reports to the contrary, he has consistently supported and facilitated the most egregiously radical aspects of that agenda. Further, in an attempt to improve his prospects for the Republican nomination in 2008, he has spent much of the last three years sucking up to the theocon wing of the Republican Party that he once decried. Most famously, this included retracting comments he made about Jerry Falwell and then speaking at Falwell’s Liberty University. Pandering to extremists you once denounced in order to improve your electoral prospects hardly sounds “principled” to me.

• Chris Bowers’s diary :: ::

Tags: Google bomb, activism, John McCain, Recommended (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

If you are anything like me, you are sick and tired of the national image of John McCain as some sort of independent, principled, Republican moderate. Examples of McCain’s departure from the Bush administration’s agenda are truly few and far between. Despite reports to the contrary, he has consistently supported and facilitated the most egregiously radical aspects of that agenda. Further, in an attempt to improve his prospects for the Republican nomination in 2008, he has spent much of the last three years sucking up to the theocon wing of the Republican Party that he once decried. Most famously, this included retracting comments he made about Jerry Falwell and then speaking at Falwell’s Liberty University. Pandering to extremists you once denounced in order to improve your electoral prospects hardly sounds “principled” to me.

What especially irks me about McCain’s pure as the driven snow national image is how the Washington pundit elites have continued to help manufacture it. McCain is the most frequent guest on Sunday morning talk shows, whose hosts clearly have done a terrible job of exposing the truth about him. We simply can’t trust the gatekeepers of our conventional wisdom to treat John McCain with any skepticism whatsoever. I am sure we will see much of the same lapdog treatment from the pundit elite when it comes to the McCain doctrine, otherwise known as escalation in Iraq. Already, pundits are bending over backward to label this idea serious, and the people who support it as principled.

Well, I say enough is enough. The line on McCain’s national image will be drawn here, and drawn now. Today, I am proposing a long-term, anti-McCain googlebomb project similar to the Googlebomb the Elections campaign I founded in 2006. Read the extended entry for details.

Tags: Googlebomb 2008, activism, John McCain (all tags)

In looking for a search engine optimization against McCain, the first step is to choose good websites to optimize. Here some criteria for good websites:

• The website should already be in the Google top 100, for searches on John McCain, making it easier to increase the ranking over time.
• The website should have the word “McCain” in the title of the search result making it easier to optimize.
• The website should be from a well-known news source, making is less obviously a partisan attack.
• The website should have a long life span, and not in danger of being removed before the general election.
• The website should be a negative news story on McCain, not an opinion piece.

With those criteria in mind, here are six best possible options I see for a McCain Googlebomb search engine optimization campaign:

1. John McCain. You Tube showing John McCain as a flip-flopper. Current Google rank:12. Is not a news site.
2. John McCain. Anti-McCain attack site featuring videos and McCain’s connection to lobbyists. Current Google rank: 22. Is obviously an attack site rather than a news source.
3. John McCain. The original McCain Googlebomb tying McCain to Bush on Iraq. Current Google rank: 26. CBS News is the source. Title comes off as garbled in the Google search. Also, McCain is going to make this connection the basis of his campaign, so it might not be necessary.
4. John McCain: Crooks and Liars tag for John McCain. Current Google rank: 30. Will be constantly updated. It is a blog, but one with a great title when it comes to attacking a Republican nominee.
5. John McCain: Mother Jones article about McCain wanting to keep troops in Iraq for 100 years. Current Google rank: 76. Negatives: long and somewhat garbled title.

Let me know what you think of these options. Also, if you have any more candidate websites, especially some of the juicy lobbyist stuff of late, please list them in the comments.

Over the next couple of days, we can whittle down the choices, put it to a vote, and start the campaign in earnest.

Bsuh's Third Term

According to Pew, the number one way voters use the internet is to search for candidate information.  Ergo, it makes sense to try and embed hyperlinks of telling McCain articles across the internet in order to raise their Google ranking.  So here we go:

1–McCain: US economic woes ‘psychological’

2–McCain housing policy shaped by lobbyist

3–Bush, McCain plug Social Security

4–McCain blasts Obama’s and Clinton’s attacks on NAFTA

5–McCain in NH: Would Be “Fine” To Keep Troops in Iraq for “A Hundred Years”

6–McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion

7–Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition

8–McCain says overturn the law that legalized abortion

9–McCain Defends Bush’s Iraq Strategy

There you have it.  You can blogroll them, put them in your sig, add them in comments, or link one every time you use McCain’s name.  Or his “huggy bear” image.

After the Malkin project, Bowers got lots of death threats.  He now estimates that this project could cost McCain 1% of the vote, so if you see a fleet of V-22s circling Open Left, you’ll know his payload hit the mark.

Earlier this month, the Sunday Times caught longtime Bush associate Stephen Payne on tape offering access to top Bush administration officials in exchange for “six-figure donations to the private library being set up to commemorate Bush’s presidency.” Payne, who is now being investigated by the Homeland Security Department and the House Oversight Committee, made the offer to Kazakh politician Yerzhan Dosmukhamedov, who is also known as Eric Dos.

Looks like this will be your usual network of shell corporations:

But the Times reports today that Payne may be lying about his business dealings and that the money may have been funneled through a sister company to Payne’s lobbying firm:

The Sunday Times, however, has discovered the existence of a channel through which funds from the Kazakh government could have been readily transferred.

A sister company to WSP, Worldwide Strategic Energy (WSE), of which Payne is also president, has a subsidiary, Caspian Alliance, which is the sole US representative for KMG.

The Times reports that a top adviser to Sen. John McCain, lobbyist Randy Scheunemann, has direct ties to the company that is alleged to have funneled the funds:

In a further link, Randy Scheunemann, chief foreign policy and national security adviser to John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, was listed in the WSE brochure as part of its executive team. Scheunemann and Associates, his lobbying firm, is reported as having represented the Caspian Alliance in 2005.

At the undercover meeting last week, Payne said Scheunemann had been “working with me on my payroll for five of the last eight years”. When confronted over the link to KMG, Payne declined to comment.