Political Gateway started in 2002 after I got tired of trying to find candidate’s websites. I started listing them on my site, local candidates, and then offering some information about them. I received a lot of viewers. I decided to go farther.

The site you are on now is the ‘beta’ version finished in late 2004 and 2005. The next version is being programmed now as you read this.

This site has no connection with any party, government agency, or movement. It is to be a place of knowledge and ideas from all sides, not just one.

In the years since 2002 when I started it, the site has had some wonderful good times and some heady downtimes.

2002 2003 were hard, I had to learn how to build websites and deal with programming. After finding no programs or programmers that could do anything write I decided to teach myself.

2004 – I built the site you see now with my knowledge of programming. Getting the first candidates was a great experience. And my first columnists too.

From 2004 to 2008 I had many issues I had to deal with.

Google- Google was not happy with my site. On a phone call (yes a phone call) they explained some of the content was anti-bush. I explained it is pro-bush too, it is bi-partisan. I showed them the article in question referenced a humorous democratic ‘Bushenstein’ video. They allowed me back in the database.

Then google added my news and columns to the Google-News and my site traffic was enormous. I actually made some money from the ads for a few months.

AFP – Agence France Presse, the news company. I was receiving news from them. They sued google because google was grabbing headlines off of their subscriber’s sites and using them in google-news. Google responded by dropping all the American websites grabbed by googlenews. Mine was one.

At the same time I was in the process of notifying the parties of my website, offering free websites to all who needed them. I was floored when, both the dem and rep national party chairs told me “we will never tell anyone about your site because you help candidates from the other party.” They told me I “had to understand that they were hardcore <insert party> members” and they “would never tell anyone about this.”

I proclaimed that the site is perfect for their poorer candidates that have no money and is geared for local candidates. I explained it was a nice non-partisan place for everyone to compare and rate candidates, it was about learning the issues. It was for the people.

They said, no thank you.
In one month I went from the highest feeling of accomplishment to a dead website that was ignored.

I pleaded with google to allow my news and even bought news from UPI so they could grab that. They finally relented and picked it up along with my columns again.

Whew..sounded good. At this time in 2006 I went through a series of deaths in my circle of life. 2 cats, many friends and ‘second family members’. I took the next year and a half off from life. During this time, google, responding to one columnists diatribe on Obama’s history, dropped me from the news aggregation again, citing ‘not enough staff.’

Also during this time all the columnists starting in-fighting and most left.

So, after a long 6 ½ years, my site has been pumped up and slapped down quite a few times. My original build was to incorporate political parties and candidates. That has changed.

There is a new Political Gateway being built. To hell with google. To hell with AFP. To hell with the mighty Dem and Rep national chairs. I will not beg to be seen or used by google or any search engine. I will not cower and beg for the bigwigs at the Democrat and Republican parties to help steer their candidates here.

No. I am making a new mandate for the site. It will totally be about the community, the people, knowledge, and will be at the forefront of keeping tabs on incompetent and lazy leaders the world over. Yep, this site is going global at the end of 2008.

This site will be fair and allow viewpoints from almost all sides. People will be able to start their own party sites and even their own political parties here.

Political Gateway, part2 is coming. Watch for it.

You can contact Bob Hoffman at

954-946-1500

Mailing address is

695 NW 38th Ave

Deerfield Beach, Fla 33442

Email me using the 'Feedback' link above.