Election-Related Web Sites Hope to Inform Debate

To capitalize on early interest in the 2008 presidential campaign, two nonprofit groups have introduced election-related Web sites that expand on their everyday work.

• The Kaiser Family Foundation, in Menlo Park, Calif., started Health08.org to present an array of health-care material, including relevant news articles, YouTube videos and podcasts produced by candidates, short candidate biographies, and public-opinion polls that the foundation conducts.

  The site currently links to mostly outside material, including the Internet sites of all 17 official candidates so far. In coming months, the foundation plans to add original content, especially fact sheets on health care and “side by sides” that articulate the differences and similarities between candidates’ positions and proposals.

  Foundation officials said that fact sheets and candidate comparisons have been especially helpful for voters trying to navigate the complexities of rival health-care proposals in past elections.

  As of now, the site has limited itself to presidential candidates, but Kaiser officials say they are considering expanding it to include Senate and gubernatorial contenders as Election Day 2008 approaches. The site will not endorse candidates in any race.

For more information: Go to http://www.health08.org.

• The One Economy Corporation, a Washington group that seeks to fight poverty, organized a national forum called “Poverty in America” on its 247townhall.org Web site, and plans to promote smaller forums in a dozen cities before the election.

  The national forum took place in New Orleans but was broadcast live on the Web. It gathered an array of participants, including James Carville, the political consultant; Jack Kemp, a former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; and Douglas H. Palmer, the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

  In addition, Mitt Romney, a Republican presidential candidate and the former governor of Massachusetts, and John Edwards, a Democratic presidential candidate and former vice-presidential nominee, both submitted videos specifically filmed for the event.

  The Web site also allowed anyone to submit questions about poverty to be answered by the speakers at the forum.

  Daniel M. Fellini, managing editor of 247townhall.org, says his group will probably revisit the issues that were raised during the forums in the coming months: “We want to go back at some point and have this discussion again and see what’s changed and what hasn’t — and why.”

  Still, while he considers the national forum a success, drawing thousands of viewers, Mr. Fellini says 247townhall.org will spend most of its time reproducing the national forum on a smaller scale by providing video equipment to a dozen cities, a setup Mr. Fellini calls “town halls in a box.”

For more information: Go to http://www.247townhall.org.