As of super tuesday, I reviewed all of the top contenders presidential websites and here are the results!  Although I never proved it, a good website is important and decides how I vote (even across party lines)!

Best Democratic

  • Barack Obama www.barackobama.com
    Nice use of graidents and a clean feel to the website.  The spanish version of the site is not using CSS correctly and the background image is off center as well as the page not being centered.  Flush right is so 1998 guys!  Another criticism is their splash page.  Just like McCain, they want your money or newsletter signup right away.  Bad choice.  Further, their 'unsubscribe' feature doesn't even work or makes you wake a week!  That is bad for user experience!  Someone should sit them down and explain what pisses off website visitors and that's #1. 
  • Why not...Hillary?  Her website is confusing, cluttered and plain annoying.  Sorry Billary.

Best Republican

  • Mike Huckabee www.mikehuckabee.com
    Actually this is the best website out of ALL the candidates.  Even though I'm a progressive, I'd vote for Mike simply based off his website.  Talk about usability!  As someone who worked in campaigns before, he does it right:  Easy to understand steps to take to help Mike, simple uncluttered pages, effective use of youtube.com (both on the website and of course the youtube.com site).  If his website is this good (actually better than any I've seen in years), he should get your vote.  Maybe he would change his views on Government making it more effective ('usability') instead of the traditional conservative line of limiting it.   Eh, probablly not...at least the website is excellent! 
  • Why not...Romney?  His website is just as confusing as Hillary, navigation makes you 'think' even if for a second, and plain cluttered!
  • Why not...McCain?  It pains me to not endorse a fellow Navy man, but his website is also cluttered.  It reminds me of websites circa 2000.  Trying to do too much on a page.  The fact that it's hard to even ENTER his website (try finding the link to get in quickly) is annoying...I'll let you know if I want your newsletter or give you a donation after I see your site. 

The final decision?  If it's a contest between Obama and Huckabee I'd be happy!


Update October 2008:

The two final candidates, Obama and McCain are in the final stretch and their websites reflect it, however both still feature useless 'splash' screens.

  • McCain features a completey revamped website with a splash screen that actually takes you to 'action' steps...a great idea.  Inside you can choose if you are a supporter, undecided, or unregistered voter.  It's unclear if this does anything except do an interal poll for the website owners because nothing appears to happen on the site...a wasted opportunity!  Beyond that, the website reflects more of what is needed compared to his earlier primary website.

  • Obama's website is virtually the same.  The splash page no longer asks for money, but instead asks you to join a email list...why?  It's less than half a month until election...what could it possibly serve?  A more impactful splash page like McCain would be helpful or one that directs the user to what they are looking for (for instance "Heard a Rumor About Obama?", "Why Obama?", "Supporter? Help Us Win!"  ... those would have been three excellent segways to important parts of the site instead of a trivial newsletter signup).  Inside it's the same except there is a volunteer action 'center' of sorts to the right giving the user the ability to help the campaign...good deal.

In the end, both websites do the basic same task with both exceeding in different ways.  You can tell that the Obama website was created by those who worked with their Graphic Design and Website teams respectfully...both worked towards a unifed and user friendly experience...it just looks professional.  Compared to McCain's website which appears to be a bit rushed and unprofessional (you can tell the McCain Palin pictures were digitally pasted together and it doesn't even look well done compared to the same idea used on the Obama website which was done well with Biden)...some CSS and technology is either a bit outdated now or just 'excess'.

Hopefully 2011/12 will bring us some really excellent websites...I'll vote for that.