The 2008 presidential election has become one of the most widely-followed political spectacles of the modern era. As Barack Obama and John McCain face off to become the next president of the United States, the entire country remains divided about who is qualified to hold the title of Commander in-Chief. The vast majority of voters support a candidate because of the positions that he or she uphold, as well as the promises that the candidate plans to put into effect should he or she be elected. There are also plenty of mud-slinging contests back and forth between the candidates in the form of stump speeches and advertisements that often bring to light important considerations about each candidate’s political life, such as Obama’s affiliation with William Ayers and McCain’s connection to the Keating scandal. The best way to keep tabs on these facts without having to follow the news religiously or do a lot of background research is to visit an in-depth election coverage website. There are plenty of websites all over the internet that promise to give voters the information they need to make a wise decision when voting for president, including mainstream news sites such as CNN, Fox News and MSN. However, there also specialized sites just for the election; here are some of the best.

One outstanding source of information concerning the 2008 presidential election can be found at 2008Election.Procon.org. Their mission statement is simple: they just give you the stances of each candidate on key issues and let you decide for yourself. Rather than tossing biased facts at you in an attempt to get you to see things in a light that may or may not represent each candidate well, the website offers a glimpse of each candidate’s stance on the issues. On the front page, you see the Republican ticket, the Democratic ticket, and the 3rd Party candidates that are running for president, and you can click on any of the candidates to view their positions on the issues. To back up the positions that the website displays, there is also an associated quote said by the candidate that encapsulates the view of the candidate on the issue. Next to the quote, it will either read “Pro”, “Con”, or “Not Clearly Pro or Con”, allowing you to quickly go through and see what each candidate actually believes in.

There is also plenty of other information at ProCon.org that can be very useful for those looking to brush up on their presidential knowledge. A side-by-side comparison chart allows you to see how each candidate stacks up against the other candidates according to the issues, which is both interesting by allowing you to see how they vary and useful to see who you should support if one or several issues are your main concerns. The website also has a section dedicated to Candidate videos, allowing you to watch some of the candidates in action as they talk about some important issues. There are also debate and forum transcripts for your perusal, allowing you to dissect everything that the presidential candidates had to say during these landmark debates if just watching them was not enough. Rounding out the available information at ProCon.org is a section concerning candidate finances, providing an interesting glimpse into the money matters in the election, and a section devoted to candidate speeches so that you can follow the actual words of the candidate throughout the election season.

Yahoo’s election coverage site is another great resource for someone who wants to know everything that there is to know about 2008’s presidential election. The front page of the website contains headlines that detail up-to-the-minute developments in the elections, usually concerning speeches on policy, new ad campaigns undertaken by each of the candidates, and political pundits weighing in on events in the election. There is also a section dedicated to Opinions and Editorials on the front page, allowing you to check, at a glance, the most popular pieces written for against the candidates. The next section on the front page is “Most Blogged About” where you can see the articles that are causing the biggest ripples in the blogosphere. An Interactives section lets you use multimedia programs that help to shed light on important issues in the election as well as putting the election into an entertaining light. There are plenty of things to read on the front page of the Yahoo website, and most of these are links that will take you to many more interesting articles about the election. If you are looking for a website to serve as a sort of home base as you navigate the wealth of election-related news and information on the internet, the Yahoo News page is a great place to be.

Another excellent source of in-depth election coverage is PBS’s Vote 2008 website. The site, which is updated every day, contains plenty of news information to keep every voter informed about the current issues that influence the election. A section devoted to the candidates contains biographies, interviews, and links to articles that specifically deal with each individual candidate. There is also an option to see all candidate election coverage, giving you an excellent source to find pertinent information about each of the candidates that you can use in order to make up your mind about who to cast your vote for. There is also a section of the website devoted to analysis, providing a place for voters to listen to political experts as they attempt to make heads or tails of the events that are going on in our country today and how they affect each of the candidate’s chances of getting elected. A “What’s at Stake” section allows you to compare how each candidate would influence the nation at large, giving you another perspective upon which to base your decision, and Reporter’s Blog section is another great place to find opinions about the issues that affect the candidates and what each man plans to do about them. All in all, the PBS website is a wonderful resource if you want to compare the current news and the issues with how each of the candidates intends to solve these issues.

Of course, not all election coverage on the internet is so serious. Twitter has created an election coverage center that allows the public to express its opinion in a consolidated, filtered place in the form of the micro-blogs for which Twitter is known. If you want to see what the people are saying, Twitter’s election center is an intriguing way to do so, providing that you can keep up with the stream of tweets being added to the page every couple of seconds. Other election sites worth checking out include: NPR.org and PollingReport.com.

When all is said and done, this election will be one of the most influential presidential elections in the history of the country, with either ticket’s election creating a first for the United States. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will square off against John McCain and Sarah Palin on November 4, 2008, and the result will be sure to send shockwaves throughout the world as a new set of politicians enter the White House, ready to lead the country.