[Campaigns-l] Tabs v.s. tables or paragraphs for pro et con

[Janet Hawtin]

On 8/10/06, Jonathan Trenn <jonathan_trenn at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> While I agree with idea of getting candidates to take part, the one thing
> that we have to remember - and this is huge - is that they don't simply use
> this as a platform to say that they're "for good schools", "a cleaner
> environment", and "REAL national security".
>
> I would think that that would be the natural tendency for most in campaigns.
>  Don't give specifics.  Attack your opponent.  In a way, it can go against
> the mission.

Excellent point. Perhaps start by talking to folks who 'get' online dialogue.

eg. I hope you US folk dont mind but I've emailed Barack Obama because
he blogs and is prepared to give straight answers to questions, and is
careful to attack the issue.

People who are independent and so are likely to speak specifically
about the things they are interested in might be one approach.

Some folk will probably want to set up a party line page and point at that.
Can't see how you can avoid that - and in fact its probably an
accurate representation of what they will do in office so an honest
representation
of what is being offered?

I guess then the challenge then is to have better answers than those
in the negotiated spaces on the site and to make it clear that there
are voters looking to vote for those perspectives.

So far the polly aspect of the site seems to be recording who is
running and where which is safely npov for them if they want to make a
first step without feeling exposed by being explicit about their
priorities and thoughts, particularly before they have figured out who
else here thinks what and how many folks in their area
would vote consistently with our opinions.

FWIW I think that getting beyond that kind of simple (but not useful
in practical terms) statement is going to be a challenge for all of
us.
Turning an explicit concern into a practical option is the step after that.
Making digital collective opinion into tangible options offline is probably
going to be as tricky as the wiki itself.

Janet