Google-Bomb McCain--A Prime Candidate Story

by: Paul Rosenberg

Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 12:15


In a comment responding to Mike's diary, Crucial Time In The Presidential Race, I called attention to a recent AP story, " McCain: More conservative than his image", quoting it in part:

....The likely Republican presidential nominee is much more conservative than voters appear to realize. McCain leans to the right on issue after issue, not just on the Iraq war but also on abortion, gay rights, gun control and other issues that matter to his party's social conservatives....

"People see him as a centrist. They don't see him as a conservative," said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

"In fact, they put him pretty close to themselves, in terms of ideology, and put President Bush way to the right of themselves," Kohut said.

In a national Pew survey earlier this year, voters placed McCain in the middle, where they placed themselves, when asked to judge the ideology of Bush and the presidential candidates. They placed Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama far to the left.

And Sam L followed up:

It's great

And because the full title shows up in the google headline, I think it would be a prime target for the Google Bombing campaign.

Speaking of which, when is that going to get into full swing, if this is our opportunity to define McCain? I sure thought it would be up and running a while ago.

I think Sam is absolutely right--and his comment is right in tune with the spirit of Mike's diary.  But maybe there's an even better candidate out there.  If so, we need to find it.  Either way, it seems to me that the time to google-bomb is now.

How say you?
Paul Rosenberg :: Google-Bomb McCain--A Prime Candidate Story

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Google-Bomb McCain--A Prime Candidate Story | 19 comments
Set a deadline (0.00 / 0)
Call for submissions, provide three options, have an open comment period and then make an executive decision.

Week and half, that's all it needs.

Other ideas? (0.00 / 0)
In addition to google bombing, maybe we should consider an anti-McCain project competition along the lines of the BlogPAC grants for online infrastructure projects. Not that we should detract from movement building to focus on McCain, but both seem worthy. Just a thought.

I also have a question which will reveal my utter ignorance of all things technical. How do I put the hyperlink inside the text in order to take part in the google bombing? I'll add that article, at least until we decide on one.

I support John McCain because children are too healthy anyway.

<a href="url">Text to be displayed</a> (4.00 / 1)
Just like that.  I had to ask, too.
[ Parent ]
one step further (0.00 / 0)
I agree this is an excellent article for a googlebomb.

I took it one step further in a diary and also tied the theme to our incumbent Republican Rep. Capito (WV-02).

Sen. John McCain and Rep. Capito more conservative than their image

FWIW, I still have the old CBS News article "McCain Defends Bush's Iraq Strategy" in my sidebar as a McCain googelebomb. If it meets all the other criteria for a good googlebomb, I think the AP article is a timely upgrade.

They call me Clem, Clem Guttata. Come visit wild, wonderful West Virginia Blue

we could try (4.00 / 1)
google bombing multiple articles and start with this one (try to get several negative hits on the first page of mccain's google search results).

Anyway, I say, Bomb's Away.

Or perhaps...bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb mccain.  bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb mccain

[ Parent ]
you want the linked part in your signature to say... (0.00 / 0)
"John McCain" and have that be the only words links to whatever article. It works better if more people use the same article.

Technically there are some tricks and stuff that can be done to help raise his google rankings besides just putting that link in signatures but many of them are illegal and/or questionable morally or difficult technically. If anybody has access to any LARGE networks or cough botnets botnets there are other things that can be done :P

End this war. Stop John McCain. Cindy McCain is filthy rich.

I've been waiting for you guys to get going on this (0.00 / 0)
I've been using the link that's in my signature below.  But if we can all agree on one thing then let's do it.  Time is a wasting.

The problem is, is that the press tend to only write glowing stories about the guy so there isn't much to pick from.

How about something with the Keating 5 or his ability to stick by someone when their sick (his first wife).

Glowing press (0.00 / 0)
Good point. The wikipedia article on John McCain is more enlightening on those subjects than any news article I've seen.

They call me Clem, Clem Guttata. Come visit wild, wonderful West Virginia Blue
[ Parent ]
Another idea could be to... (0.00 / 0)
Buy books such as The Real McCain and Free Ride: John McCain and the Media and McCain: The Myth of a Maverick and donate them to your local library.
Excellent Idea! (0.00 / 0)
Free Ride is especially important, as it directs attention at the media complicity as well.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3
[ Parent ]
Here's what comes up at #46 in a google search (0.00 / 0)
for "John McCain":

His pro war opinion piece written on the eve of the Iraq Invasion in the NYTimes:

Many critics suggest that disarming Iraq through regime change would not result in an improved peace. There are risks in this endeavor, to be sure. But no one can plausibly argue that ridding the world of Saddam Hussein will not significantly improve the stability of the region and the security of American interests and values.

Maybe that could be "John McCain Iraq"? (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
One problem (0.00 / 0)
Yahoo news links go dead pretty quickly. Is there another link for the article?
Here are a couple links (0.00 / 0)
http://ap.google.com/article/A...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl...

I don't know if they will last any longer than Yahoo but maybe one of you with more experience with this will know. It's also my first post here so apologies if the links don't look right.


[ Parent ]
Plenty of Options (0.00 / 0)
You're more on top of this than I am Chris.  But Google, Salon and Huffington Post are three options that come immediately to mind.  Plus, I'm sure there are newspapers that keep their AP story links forever and a day.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3
[ Parent ]
Right, please lend your expertise (0.00 / 0)
Everybody wants to start googlebombing, so give a little guidance and we'll get to it.
[ Parent ]
Can I get a tutorial?? (0.00 / 0)
I'm down, but I need the rundown on how it goes down.  
Here is the deal (0.00 / 0)
One of the factors that search engines use is the number of links to an article and what the text of the "link" says.  So, if there are thousands of links on webpages that say John McCain, google will figure.

A famous google bomb was "miserable failure."  If you searched using those words, it would send you to Bush's official biography, despite the fact that the official biography does not say "miserable failure."  Google later updated its methods, and such google bombs no longer work.  But links to "John McCain" to a legitimate news article with "McCain" in the headline and the text will work well.

So, we would need you to link to the article on any blogs or websites you have, using John McCain as the text.  

It works really well for less well known Republicans.  

Generally speaking, it would be helpful if we all made a habit of linking to good article we write or read on candidates regularly.  For example, here's something about LoBiondo and the Deepwater scandal.

New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.

[ Parent ]
One more clarification, if you please (0.00 / 0)
"So, we would need you to link to the article on any blogs or websites you have, using John McCain as the text."

Can one still participate if one does not "have" a blog, or web-site?  Is that what the earlier posts about "signature lines" was refering to?  

"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."

[ Parent ]
Google-Bomb McCain--A Prime Candidate Story | 19 comments
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