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Sites meant to capitalize on the popularity of online social-networking Web sites include Hotsoup.com, Essembly.com, Campaigns Wikia, and MorePerfect.org. Facebook has also launched an Election 2006 network by creating stock profiles of about 1,400 candidates. The site then requested that the Democratic and Republican National Committees urge candidates to expand the profiles. Pages on MySpace.com also include those of Len Munsil, who is a candidate for Arizona Governor, and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who is running for re-election. Hotsoup.com will soon be available and is backed by Joe Lockhart, former press secretary for President Clinton, and Mark McKinnon, former media strategist for President Bush. At Hotsoup.com, users will be asked to discuss important topics, including healthcare and immigration. Campaigns Wikia was started by the founder of Wikipedia and allows members to create and share profiles and to collaborate on drafting and editing of articles on politics and campaigns. Essembly.com, founded by a recent Harvard graduate and volunteer for John Kerry's presidential campaign, has thousands of members organized around resolves, which are more than 10,000 user-created statements. MorePerfect.org, founded by Tim Killian, who has helped run local referendums in Washington state, and MorePerfect.org are free to visitors, but have ads. They run basic Google text ads associated with keywords that appear on the site. HotSoup.com will permit politicians and political groups to purchase ads, including video ads, but the sites do not allow pols to solicit campaign donations directly through the site.
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