Google Plans Big Presence at Upcoming Political Conventions

SILICON VALLEY, CALIF. — John McCain told the Associated Press that he's learning how to be more efficient on a computer. Apparently he’s a quick learner, because he's now using Google Reader, Google's news aggregation service. What's more, he's sharing his newfound capabilities with the world through a new Web site that Google unveiled Monday called Power Reader in Politics.

Power Reader in Politics is one piece of a suite of applications that Google unveiled and highlighted to reporters on Monday, a week before the Democratic National Convention commences in Denver. According to wire reports, many of the tools aren't really new, but Google is trying to emphasize politicos' use of them to demonstrate their utility.

The company hopes that the thousands of attendees of both the August convention and the September Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., will discover and become accustomed to using its multiple tools, which enable people to share, remix, broadcast and opine online.

"We're giving people an education on the ground since this isn't a community of early adopters, but we know they're eager to learn," Ginny Hunt, a Google public affairs manager in charge of running Google's operations at the conventions told the AP.

To that end, Google plans on having a large presence at both he conventions. Delegates, reporters and bloggers will be able to use computers to upload their photos and videos to the Web. Google staffers gave presentations Monday on some of the projects on which its teams have been working. In addition to the Google Power Reader in Politics project, the company showcased its political video search tool, which it rolled out in July.

Company staffers also provided a preview of a project that will enable people to look up their voting registration status, voting precinct location and ballot information online. During the primaries, one of the most consistently searched-for terms on election days was voter precinct location information. Google is working with the Pew Center's Electionline.org to launch the project this fall. The company plans on demonstrating an example of its collaborative efforts with the Ohio Secretary of State at next week’s convention.

Similar information is available now through the North Carolina state Board of Elections' Web site.