Until mid-September, before the news media launched its daily assault on the American public with stories about the economic downturn, immigration consistently ranked as the first or second most important issue facing citizens of many states, particularly those in the West and Southwest.

A late August survey by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research of 2,400 likely voters in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming found that 53% wanted the estimated 12 million undocumented workers in the U.S. to be offered the chance to apply for legal status.

Barack Obama and John McCain both support the proposal to accommodate illegal workers in America. In 2006, Senator Obama voted for the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act – co-sponsored by John McCain and Ted Kennedy – which proposed to both give illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship and to boost security at the U.S.-Mexico border. Although the bill was passed in the Senate, it was defeated by Congress.

In spite of each candidate’s support for this legislation, of the 4,000+ people who voted upon McCain and Obama’s respective immigration agendas on the Minekey Election 2008 microsite, an overwhelming majority of 83% approved of Obama position, whereas only 33% gave a thumbs-up for McCain. Why? Primarily because the Obama plan emphasizes giving priority to those immigrants who have applied legally for citizenship, whereas McCain’s plan proposes offering VISAs (with conditions) to all those working in the country illegally.

Says one user in support of Obama’s plan, “the whole immigration and naturalization process should very well be revamped, from the ground floor, up. Kick out illegals, but streamline legalization.” Says another, “I agree with protecting our borders but I don’t agree that we should accept amnesty. Your intentions are good when giving everyone opportunity but if they broke the law that wouldn’t be fair for the legal immigrants who worked to get here by honesty & clean record.”

Visit the Minekey Election 2008 Microsite, and discover how people from all over the world are voting on each of the Presidential candidates’ policies.

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama offer very different solutions to jumpstarting the economy and reversing the housing crisis, and those differences are boldly contrasted by voting patterns on the Minekey 2008 Election microsite.

So far, over 3,000 people have voted on each of the candidates’ economic stimulus and housing policies. 82% of users have voted in support of Obama’s economic plan, and 23% in favor of McCain’s proposed solutions to the housing crisis.

A Landslide Victory for Obama?

Although Obama has taken the lead with three weeks left in the campaign, the overwhelming support for his policies by members of the Minekey community is not at all consistent with current polls which track the political sentiments of the average American voter. One possible explanation for this big variation is the global demographic which makes up the Minekey community. With regular users from the U.S. and over 100 other countries posting opinions, voting, and commenting on others, Minekey opinions provide truly international perspectives on current issues and trends.

Recent polls conducted by both the Economist and the Reader’s Digest magazines asked 1,000+ respondents from countries other than the U.S. who they would vote for if they could choose the next U.S. President. The numbers from each poll are similar to those emerging on the Minekey Election microsite, suggesting also that Obama would achieve a landslide victory if everyone in the world could vote in this election.

Of those who voted in the Reader’s Digest poll, 90% of Dutch and 85% of Germans would vote for Obama. Similarly, of those who voted in the Economist’s “Global Electoral College” poll, 88% of British and 86% of Japanese would also vote for Obama.

The Minekey Election 2008 portal gives Americans and global citizens a unique forum to learn, vote upon and debate the policies of the Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates.

SUNNYVALE, CA – October 14, 2008 – Minekey, a leading place for online discussion, has just launched its Election 2008 microsite, to provide a forum for global citizens to discover, vote upon and discuss the key issues being debated between Barack Obama and John McCain, the two candidates for President of the United States.

Anyone can join the conversation on Minekey, and vote upon and discuss the issues which are central today to the welfare and prosperity of America and the world. Obama and McCain’s positions on twenty key issues are presented for users to vote upon and discuss, including taxes, health care, housing, energy, the environment, Iraq, gun control, and abortion.

To date, over 2 million people have participated in discussions on Minekey, and many have shared their opinions on politics. Minekey’s application on Facebook is among the top 5 in politics category. So far, users have expressed several thousand opinions on Minekey about Obama and McCain, and all the important issues relevant for this election.

“Minekey provides a forum for people to share their opinions and have deep discussions on political issues,” say Minekey CEO Delip Andra. “As the current economic crisis is global, voters and foreign citizens alike are paying close attention to the policy proposals of the two presidential candidates, and Minekey delivers a powerful way for anyone to express their opinion about McCain and Obama’s respective platforms, and contribute to user generated polls on related issues that impact us all.”

Click here to view the Minekey 2008 Election site.