The Information Age in politics is littered with cautionary tales in which so-called ‘cyber-squatters’ have rushed to register the domains for up-and-coming politicians. The squatters register the domains in hopes of selling them to campaigns at a steep cost.
According this week’s news, that is the exact scenario that unfolded for Rand Paul. A quick- thinking domain company nabbed the url RandPaul.com before the senator’s own staff thought it nescassary.
The National Journal reports the Rand Paul campaign shelled out approximately $100,000 to secure the domain in April, a sum unheard-of in politics. This domain now acts as the main Internet destination for Paul’s presidential bid.
But the reality of politicians failing to secure the most obvious domains for their campaigns is very common, and Sen. Paul is not the only candidate with these challenges.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie does not control ChrisChristie.com, which is owned by a programmer of the same name. Similarly, Carly Fiorina’s campaign resorted to the .com version of her name when realizing .org was already registered.
Sen. Ted Cruz has experienced some of worst repercussions of failing to secure the.com. Owners of TedCruz.com used the site to promote President Obama’s amnesty policies on the day Sen. Cruz announced. Cruz’s official site is found at the TedCruz.org address.
