Cash McCracken '08 and three classmates - all self-described "political junkies" - developed an ambitious idea last spring.
For their group project in PPAI 1700U: "Communications, Advocacy and Public Affairs," they created a Web site called Reality Check 08 (realitycheck08.org) to catch presidential candidates "flip-flopping" on issues.
Now McCracken is facing a reality check of his own.
As the presidential primary heats up, the Web site is more pertinent than it has ever been. But McCracken's three fellow bloggers have graduated and started full-time jobs, and McCracken is taking a full course load while trying to land a job of his own for next year. With little time and few helpers, he's struggling to keep the Web site up to speed.
"Last semester we each had our own responsibilities and would help each other research," he said. "It's harder now that there's not that class element."
Last spring, McCracken, Matt Listro '07, John Butler '07 and former Herald opinions columnist Jesse Adams '07 researched for several hours each day and updated the site regularly. Their work drew quick notice: After a few months, Reality Check '08 was linked on Time Magazine's political blog and was attracting about 500 visitors a day.
But with a political news cycle that rarely lasts longer than 24 hours, blogs are only as good as they are recent. McCracken last posted on Aug. 20.
Yet McCracken said he feels the project gives voters information they ought to know.
"It's really important for the people to know where the candidates stand - and have stood - to know how they'll actually act when they're in office," he said.
That's why McCracken is determined to keep the site's content fresh.
"I'm trying to figure out a way to either get other people who are interested in it, or to fit it into (my) schedule," he said.
Reality Check '08 tries to catch presidential contenders in their own double-talk, which will hopefully encourage them to clarify their positions.
"What we're really trying to do is look at what the different candidates are saying on the campaign trail," McCracken said. "So if they're in Iowa talking to corn farmers about ethanol, what are they going to say about ethanol to people in New York City?"
"Flip-flop" and its derivatives - flip-flopping and flip-flopper - became buzzwords for Republicans talking about former presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., during the 2004 election. McCracken and fellow creators hoped to play off the term's popularity when, on their home page, they called their site a chronicle of "all the flip-flops fit to print." But McCracken said their definition of "flip-flop" differs from that of Karl Rove, the former political adviser to President Bush.
"The conventional notion (of spotting flip-flopping) is: You look at a debate, you parse out one sentence from the debate, you parse out another sentence the candidate said 20 years ago, and say, 'wow, they're a flip-flopper,' " McCracken said.
He said Reality Check '08 examines stances on a more macro level, looking for fundamental disparities in a given candidate's positions. So if a candidate gives a speech defending abortion rights, then later gives a speech railing against abortion rights, Reality Check '08 would call out him or her for flip-flopping.
McCracken said it's okay for candidates to develop new opinions if they have legitimate explanations.
"To be consistent for the sake of being consistent - that's not useful for anybody," he said. "But I think we want consistency of a thought process."
In searching for candidates' thought processes, the site differentiates itself from other political blogs. Myriad bloggers summarize, link and sound off on the day's top political stories. But analyzing daily news in view of candidates' previous statements requires more time and consideration, and it's how Reality Check '08 has garnered attention.
Mark McKinnon, former media adviser to President Bush and current campaign adviser to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., praised the site. "If only the rest of the blogosphere was this thoughtful, incisive, articulate and interesting! Then all of America would be paying attention," he wrote on its testimonials section.
To delve deeply into candidates' pasts requires a certain fascination with politics - which makes McCracken right for the job. Even when he isn't updating Reality Check '08, he reads the Economist and tracks several popular political blogs daily.
But he says his site provides more than political trivia - it helps to create an informed electorate.
"Hopefully we can get to a point where it's updated daily," he said. "Otherwise no one's going to come."
