'04 Illinois Republican Senate candidates - Clicks & Picks

While their fellow Republicans spent election night 2002 uncorking champagne bottles, Illinois's Republican GOP candidates were skipping right to the hangover. Democrats won all but one statewide office, control of both houses of the legislature, and a second term for Sen. Dick Durbin. All eyes were on Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald until April 2003, when he announced his retirement. Former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar chose not to enter the race. As a result, nearly a dozen Republicans have or are expected to jump in for a once-in-a-generation chance at an open seat. It's as open a Republican primary field as for any Senate seat this cycle. Four candidates have their sites up and running. Chirinjeev Kathuria, a physician and businessman, retired Air Force General John Borling, and other Republicans are expected follow soon.

www.cox4senate.com

John Cox, an attorney and investment executive, lost the 2002 Republican Senate nomination to lawyer Jim Durkin. Despite his defeat he did gain some statewide name recognition, something his site designers seem to have taken for granted. Cox's site opens on a silhouette of the state and the legend "John Cox 4 Senate." Rather than leading directly to information about the candidate, users have to click through to see Cox's main pages. These main pages are strong, with php-based interface that leaves room for more features to be developed. The contact page is comprehensive, offering the name of the campaign manager, two office addresses and a smooth JavaScript form for volunteers. However, as of mid-July 2003 the site did not have an online donation service, a feature that has become standard for campaign Web sites.

www.jackryan2004.com

Jack Ryan is trying to distinguish himself from a field of wealthy, white-haired contenders, and the youthful-looking candidate's minimalist, clean campaign site reflects this. A cache of homey campaign photos are surrounded by a site map and slogans in black and pale orange. Media information and policy statements are on the left, and information about events and volunteering is on the top banner. Ryan's site is the most user friendly of the pack, with an e-mail newsletter and work-in progress online donation. It's not this site's design that makes it stand out, but its grip of how to immediately involve potential supporters.

www.mckennaforsenate.com

Andy McKenna Jr., director of Schwartz Paper Co., has built the most conventional site of the field. An American flag blends into pictures of Chicago and sleepy farmland. McKenna's brief campaign statement is located on the left, underneath a smiling picture of the candidate in his office. Fortunately, the site has been built with asp, meaning every page generates quickly after being selected, and there is room for other pages to be built with the same interface. For now, in lieu of volunteer and donation pages, McKenna lists his contact information at the but tom of the home page.

www.oberweisforsenate.com

Jim Oberweis, a fund manager, flies the flag high on his sire. The Statue of Liberty sits on the masthead, and the blue borders are dotted with white stars. Campaign content sits inside a single frame; each page has been built manually with HTML. The end result is a cache of rough-looking pages. Events are listed on a blocky calendar. Only the volunteer page has a php-generated interface that lets users punch in their info and send it to the campaign. The contribution section does not process payments; rather, it's an address where donors can send their checks.

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