I'm not entirely sure why I'm surprised, but I am. On John McCain's website, they recommend that supporters go to a host of websites, then submit their comments in order to earn points. As you can see from the screenshot, Daily Kos is one of the "featured blogs" johnmccain.com recommends supporters go to to comment. On the right sidebar, visitors can see a selection of blogs categorized "Liberal", "Conservative", "Moderate", and "Other". "Liberal" is the default setting.
Classy.
(click for full size)
McCain - Spread the Word
I learned about this when looking through some comments on Digg. Someone mentioned that there were an awful lot of downrated comments and wondered if the McCain trolls were intentionally trying to smother the comments. Well, as it turns out, they are.
By contrast, the Obama campaign also has a point system, but it's all directed toward interaction with other Obama supporters and GOTV efforts. Immediately after creating my MyBarackObama profile (thanks to the prodding by kid oakland in this diary), I had a few points, and earned even more by making connections with other people in the site, joining action groups, and the like. Nothing from the Obama site asked me to go to a conservative website and comment, and then report back to get a merit badge.
To me, this highlights perfectly our style vs. their style. They are aggressive and forceful and give each other pats on the back for directly confronting the "enemy." Our style, on the other hand, seeks to engage each other with respect. There's nothing wrong with interacting with the opposing perspective, but as anyone who uses the internet knows, offering kudos to people to engage with opposing opinions only encourages dickish behavior.