What do they see on the internet?

A Barack Obama presidency would bode well for Google. A John McCain victory would be good for AT&T. That's because the two senators approach regulation in the information age from fundamentally different perspectives. Obama, who clinched the Democratic nomination with an internet-savvy campaign, wants the government to take an active role in wielding the web as a weapon against poverty and rural isolation, an approach that could benefit Google. McCain sees the internet mainly as a business and trusts market forces to foster innovation for society's benefit. It's the same tack he has taken in Congress, advocating a hands-off approach to telephone-industry mergers that created the new AT&T. "McCain is a traditional, market-oriented conservative, and Obama is more comfortable with government intervention in the marketplace to... [read full story]