Political junkies go online after debates

NEW YORK - Some political junkies are offering this advice for Tuesday's final presidenital debate in St. Louis: Watch the candidates spar on television first, then go on the Internet for analysis and fact-checking.

For example, The Washington Post's site contains transcripts that are peppered with links to a ''Debate Referee.'' Last week, the referee pointed out vagueness in George W. Bush's missile-defense plans and Al Gore's inconsistencies regarding Saddam Hussein.

Both campaigns also offer their spin, at Algore.com and Bush's debatefacts.com.

CNN.com and C-SPAN.org let viewers find highlights on video by typing in words such as ''environment'' or ''school vouchers.''

The Commission on Presidential Debates posts transcripts roughly translated using computer software into French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.

With online transcripts, ''you could go back to read something you might have misunderstood to get a better idea of what the candidate meant,'' said Craig Fifer, a Democrat who runs the government Web site in Roanoke, Va.

Several sites also feature text chats with political pundits, along with written commentary from liberals and conservatives alike, including comedian Al Franken.

''I'm able to probe more and get a more diverse set of opinions,'' said Kevin Nguyen, a Republican at a conservative think tank in Sacramento, Calif.

Several sites let audiences vote for a winner. Though popular, such features are unscientific.

During the debates, major news sites feature live video feeds and running transcripts. ABCNews.com has a live video feed in Spanish, while C-SPAN.org lets viewers train a camera on the candidate who is not speaking.

But Fifer said he considers it his duty to give both candidates his undivided attention. So he prefers to wait until the debate is over to go online and try to sort truth from fact.

At CNN, analysts at an online ''Spin Room'' take gibes at the candidates and the moderator throughout the debate. No longer must viewers wait until after the debate for such punditry.

But Aaron Short, treasurer for the University of Pennsylvania College Democrats, was disappointed when he used that feature last week. ''It's more important to hear candidates themselves,'' he said, ''than to hear pundits spit back at you what they think.''

In Tarzana, Calif., investment manager Gary Mittin tried to watch last week's debate online at work but got fed up with the grainy images on a small screen. He switched to radio within minutes: ''Radio was much more intimate.''

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On the Net:

Commission on Presidential Debates: http://debates.org

Washington Post: http://washingtonpost.com

Links to major news sites: http://webwhiteblue.org