Huh?

Today’s LISNews links to a New York Times article about Fundrace.org, an intriguing site that allows you to track campaign contributions by neighborhood. This is information you can go down to any registrar’s office and legally view; nothing unusual except in the presentation and the speed of access to the information. One Ohio woman was interviewed who objected to her privacy being violated in this way, because she’s a Democrat and lives in a predominantly Republican town, yet not only did she allow her name to be used in the article, she posed for a photograph in the middle of what was presumably her street (with a row of houses identifiable behind her) and a big Kerry for President button on her lapel. I’m scratching my head here. If you think the site is an invasion of privacy, you go and perform perhaps the most publicity-seeking display imaginable (short of jumping up and down and screaming “Kerry for President!” in front of a Fox News crew)? In any event, the story’s made Fundrace.org quite popular. I tried to do a search on some San Francisco data just now and the site is overwhelmed.