Like many news websites, Google has built a website dedicated to coverage of the 2008 election. On the Google 2008 U.S. Election page users will find all types of user generated content as well as stories from popular news outlets like CBS News. The part of the website that I like the most is the Elections ’08 Map Gallery. In the map gallery users will find mash-ups of many types of data placed on a Google Map, for an example see the map below. The map below represents the campaign stops of both McCain and Obama.

Applications for Education
Google Maps mash-ups are useful for representing many types of data and information. Another of the election maps from Google illustrates where the largest campaign donations came from. A question to ask your students about that map would be something like, “what does the campaign map tell you about the party affiliation of the majority of people in area x or state x?”