Late this afternoon I got the following email:
Dear Space Advocate,
This week, the presidential candidates will be at the podium again discussing the significant topics of our nation, and YOU have a chance to ask about what’s important. As a supporter of space, this is your opportunity to get questions about Space Exploration at the forefront of the debate. Please check out the following link: http://capwiz.com/spaceadvocate/utr/1/OSTZIARNGS/ATHLIARRAS/1699563546, and vote for your favorite question, or submit one of your own. Questions about candidates’ views on Space Exploration have been in the top 10 for over a week. Let’s keep these on the radar. Be sure to check out the “most popular†area in both the Democratic and Republican section to see the specific question and submit your vote.
SpaceAdvocate.com is current undergoing maintenance at this time. However, you CAN make a difference by making your voice heard this week. Cast your vote or submit a question….TODAY!
Sincerely,
SpaceAdvocate.com and the Coalition for Space Exploration
I was about to rail on the folks at SpaceAdvocate.com for being a little late to the party: the effort to push space questions up in the rankings on the site had been going on for a couple of weeks, and the first of the two debates is tomorrow night. But the problem is much worse than that. If you go to the SpaceAdvocate.com web site, what you find is the “SpaceAdvocate Web Directory” (“Welcome to the new generation of link building. Do your website a big favor!”) The domain is registered to someone in Ankara, Turkey, who is selling links on the home page. It would seem that the Coalition for Space Exploration, which established SpaceAdvocate.com in late 2006, forgot to renew or otherwise lost control of the domain, and it was snatched up by someone else. (I guess that’s what they mean when they say that “SpaceAdvocate.com is current [sic] undergoing maintenance at this time.” Good luck with that.)
If it’s any consolation, the Coalition for Space Exploration site has a banner for the Politico site front and center. I have no idea how long it’s been there.