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"At the heart of the First Amendment is the recognition of the fundamental importance of the free flow of ideas and opinions on matters of public interest and concern. '[T]he freedom to speak one's mind is not only an aspect of individual liberty - and thus a good unto itself - but also is essential to the common quest for truth and the vitality of society as a whole.'"
"The sort of robust political debate encouraged by the First Amendment is bound to produce speech that is critical of those who hold public office or those public figures who are 'intimately involved in the resolution of important public questions or, by reason of their fame, shape events in areas of concern to society at large.'"
-- Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1988)
The Supreme Court has held that parody is a valid form of protected speech when directed at public officials and public figures. Not suprisingly, some of the most interesting, and most visited, campaign Web sites are those that parody candidates. These sites often exhibit more creativity than pro-candidate advocacy sites.
Perhaps the most notable parody site for the 2000 Presidential campaign was gwbush.com, created by Zach Exley. In May 1999, a lawyer for the Bush campaign filed a complaint against Exley and his site with the FEC, claiming that Exley should be required to file for gwbush.com as an expenditure. (Web traffic to the Exley site increased greatly after the press coverage of the Bush complaint.) On February 29, 2000, the FEC responded to Exley, informing him that "the Commission has determined to exercise its prosecutorial discretion and to take no action against you."
Featured here are some examples of parody sites.
 Zach Exley's gwbush.com
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 Hillary2000.com - Anti-Hillary Site
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 Tom Geller's "Gore 1900"
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 AllGore.com
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