The P-Word

The absence of the word "peace" from the Democratic National Convention is all the more remarkable, given its prominent place on the website for the Republican National Convention, which puts "Service, Reform, Prosperity, Peace" in the very metadata for the title of the page. Now that opening festivities have been postponed because of Hurricane Gustav, the splash page for the site refers those who would normally be political partisans to www.causegreater.com,which contains a number of donation websites for states in the hurricane's path, such as www.servealabama.gov and http://www.mississippirelief.com/. However, it is interesting to note the role of AidMatrix on the convention's website, which has a donation button to FEMA, along with corporate sponsor UPS. In this way the ideological messages about private charity and corporate stewardship rather than a publicly supported safety net are reinforced in their digital rhetoric. McCain also signaled his support for faith-based initiatives by appearing at a Gustav event at ISOH/IMPACT, which was "formerly known as International Services of Hope & Impact With God Crusades, Incorporated" and sponsors several ministries, where he was photographed next to a young lady wearing an "i Tune into God" t-shirt.