Election Web Sites Plot to Hold Their Viewers

Rather than retrench and wait for 2012, many of the election-focused Web sites that fed the public's passion for politics and polls during the presidential race are instead considering expansion. Some of these outlets view 2008 as a crossroads in American politics that has permanently elevated the public's interest in government. Others hope to preserve their audiences by shifting to more timely or timeless topics. The founder of fivethirtyeight.com, the six-month-old site that uses an algorithm to forecast the outcome of elections, says he's considering applying the site's predictive tools to congressional votes, movies' box-office performance and other topics. Meanwhile, Politico and Politicker plan to syndicate more content to traditional news organizations, filling the void in political coverage left by newspaper staff cuts. For the Huffington Post, the left-leaning blog founded in May 2005 by Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer, the blueprint for life after Nov. 4 was drawn long before the election wound down. The site launched pages dedicated to media, business and entertainment at the end of its first year. More recently it has added topic areas and expanded into local coverage with a site focused on Chicago. Ms. Huffington also plans a local San Francisco site and an expanded international news section.