Site To Be YouTube For Homemade Campaign Ads

A new website has opened to host user-generated political television ads.

Campaignads.org is the first non-partisan website that will provide a vehicle for creative artists, political activists, issue advocates,political and advertising professionals to come together, decide what isimportant and then affect the debate, site organizers say.

It will be old media meets new as consumer-generated ads move from the Internet to television and other media and back, they say.

"The presidential campaign is already heating up. And today, the public have the tools and the voice to affect the debate through advertising. We are going to propel that force into motion," says Laura Crawford, founder of Campaignads.org.


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Lawmakers Seek To Reform Presidential Campaign System

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress have introduced bills to overhaul and modernize the U.S. public financing system to elect its presidents.

Reps. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.), Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) and David Price (D-NC) announced the introduction of legislation to fix the presidential public financing system. Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) introduced companion legislation in the Senate as well.

The legislation would take effect on January 1, 2009 and be effective for presidential elections following the 2008 election, however.

"We are heading into a presidential election in 2008, in which the two major party nominees are expected to decline public financing for their races and to spend $500 million each, or a combined $1 billion, in private contributions for their primary and general election campaigns," says Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a campaign finance advocacy organization. "In order to raise this massive amount of private campaign contributions, big-money fundraisers are bound to play a preeminent role in the presidential campaigns.

The presidential campaign bill increases the amount of matching funds for the presidential primaries from a 1:1 match for up to $250 of an individual's aggregate contributions, to a 4:1 match for up to $200 of an individual's contribution," Wertheimer adds.

The presidential campaign bill increases the spending limit for candidates who choose to participate in the presidential primary public financing system from its current level of approximately $45 million, to $150 million, with a sub-limit of no more than $100 million to be spent by April 1. The bill increases the spending limit for participating general election candidates from its current level of $75 million, to $100 million. The limits are indexed for inflation. The bill repeals the primary state-by-state spending limits.

To qualify for public financing in the primary election, a presidential candidate must raise $25,000 in each of 20 states, in amounts of no more than $200 of each individual's aggregate contribution. This increases the $5,000 per state requirement in current law. A candidate also must commit to accept public financing in both the primary and general election in order to receive public funds for the primary election.

The presidential campaign finance bill moves the starting date for the payment of matching funds to primary candidates from January 1 of the election year to six months before the first primary or caucus is held by a party to select it presidential nominee.

The presidential campaign finance bill provides that if one or more participating candidates in the primary election are running against a non-participating candidate of the same party who raises or spends more than 120 percent of the primary election spending limit, the spending limit for the participating candidates is increased to $150 million during the pre-April 1 period or $200 million for the whole primary period.


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RunObama.com Enlists 6,500 Supporters in Two Weeks

The website RunObama.com has collected 6,500 signatures on a petition urging U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to run for president in 2008, those who operate the site say.

The thousands of Obama supporters from all 50 states and the District of Columbia poured in during the first two weeks of the site being active, the operators say.

A rising star in the Democratic party, Obama has left the door open to a bid for the White House. If he decides to run, he would face potentially many rivals for the Democratic nomination, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Outgoing Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack has already declared he will run as has Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.

Obama has been in national office just two years. Before that, he served as a state legislator in Illinois.

RunObama.com is now urging supporters of Barack Obama to gather 10,000 signatures before Sunday, December 10 to present to Obama during his first visit to New Hampshire. New Hampshire is home to an early and often crucial early test in the primary elections in which voters of each party select nominees for president.

The site was created to gather Obama supporters together to show the Illinois Democrat that there is a grassroots army of citizens ready to support him.

The site features a blog that is covering the early stages of an Obama campaign, as well as a video section to highlight recent television clips.

On the petition, the website encourages people to "Tell Obama to Run," declaring: "We the undersigned believe we need new leadership in this country. We need someone who can challenge, inspire and get America back on track. Most of all, we need leadership. Senator Obama needs to know that if -- and when -- he decides to run, he'll have an army of grassroots supporters ready to help him win!"