Whoops! Official-sounding campaign sites don't go where they seem

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Thursday, February 18, 2016
Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Jeb Bush are seen during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Venetian Hotel & Casino on Dec. 15, 2015, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Jeb Bush are seen during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Venetian Hotel & Casino on Dec. 15, 2015, in Las Vegas.
AP Photo/John Locher

CHICAGO -- You might think that JebBush.com and TedCruzForAmerica.com would take you to the GOP candidates' official websites... But you'd be wrong.[br /][br /]Bush's struggling campaign probably hasn't been helped this week by the news that [url HREF="jebbush.com" TARGET="blank" REL=""]JebBush.com actually leads[/url] to the official campaign site of GOP frontrunner Donald J. Trump.[br /][br /]The site has been redirecting to Trump's page since early December, according to the Internet Wayback Machine[/url], but news of the switch made waves this week thanks to a screenshot of an unofficial Trump tweet.[br /][Ads /][br /]For what it's worth, Bush's official campaign page is [url HREF="https://jeb2016.com/?lang=en" TARGET="blank" REL=""]Jeb2016.com[/url], so Trump's redirect isn't a hack. It's something else entirely. Trump's campaign [url HREF="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/02/16/for-jebbush-com-a-mystery-wrapped-inside-a-domain-name/" TARGET="blank" REL=""]told the Wall Street Journal[/url] that they're not responsible for the site, and domain registrar Fabulous.com has declined to name its owner.[br /][br /]While the Bush-Trump conflict is the big news, an official-sounding page for Ted Cruz has been toying with voters for even longer.[br /][br /]TedCruzForAmerica.com redirected voters to the site for the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as "Obamacare," since last summer, [url HREF="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/17/jebbush-com-redirects-to-trumps-site-but-wait-till-you-see-where-tedcruzforamerica-com-goes/" TARGET="blank" REL=""]according to the Washington Post[/url].[br /][br /]The site has switched targets several times, but these days it sends voters to [url HREF="http://tedcruzforamerica.com/" TARGET="blank" REL=""]Canada's official immigration page[/url].[br /][br /]Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta, though he renounced his dual citizenship in 2014.

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