[Campaigns-l] My 2 cents

[Ben Hubbird]

> Keep strictly to what each candidate has said (quotes w/
> source) and done (vote records w/source)

The facts are already available in a very easy to use, well-respected,
non-partisan website:

http://www.vote-smart.org

> and let people decipher the information for themselves and/or talk about
 > it somewhere else.

This Wiki should BE that somewhere else. We've got no shortage of facts
available to us as voters, it's just assembling those facts into a
coherent narrative that's the trouble. Any time you selectively include
facts you are implicitly defining a narrative -- you are framing that
candidate in a certain way by including some "facts" and excluding others.
This is unavoidable. Pretending that we are doing anything else is
dangerous and dishonest.

"Deciphering" this information is anything but easy, and I think that's
where this Wiki can really shine.

Ben

alucard996 said:
> I absolutely love this idea, even if it is only part of the bigger
> picture. Keep strictly to what each candidate has said (quotes w/
> source) and done (vote records w/source) and let people decipher the
> information for themselves and/or talk about it somewhere else. I think
> separation of fact and opinion is the biggest hurtle to jump over here
> and the best way to do it is to keep the wiki completely factual -
> things that can be proved without a shadow of a doubt via documented
> evidence.
>
> Maybe there should be some sort of explicit distinction between pages
> that contain fact and ones that contain opinion.
>
> - Dustin
>
> Jamie Baswell wrote:
>> I think the wiki portion should be as factual as possible.
>>
>> What I'd love to see:
>>
>> Name
>>
>> Biography
>> -- Written by himself or supporters. Not a political history, which
>> will be covered later, but a simple history, where they're from, what
>> schools they attended, generic stuff like that.
>>
>> Voting Record
>> -- List of voting history, if any.  Each entry can be a simple item
>> number and how they voted.  Each item number can itself be a link to a
>> different Wiki entry containing a summary of the bill and what various
>> candidates have said about it, if anything.
>>
>>
>> For example:
>>
>> [Bill 90210] - Voted NO
>> "I voted no on this because of a rider that required all California
>> residents to replace their cars with penguins." - Mr. Candidate, New
>> York Times interview, 1997
>> [Bill OU812] - Voted YES
>> "I voted yes on this because I think it's important to save the Alaska
>> Salmon." - Mr. Candidate, Campaign Wikia, 2006
>>
>>
>> If you click on [Bill 90210], you should get at least a brief summary
>> of what it was, and Mr. Candidate's comments should be echoed on that
>> page, along with the comments of every other candidate who had
>> anything to say about it.
>>
>> So we can see what Mr. Candidate said about it on his page or we can
>> click on the item and see what everyone said about it.
>>
>> This list should be a community effort, not just up to the campaigner
>> to post the ones he wants to popularize.  If he voted NO on something
>> 30 years ago and wants to comment about how he would vote YES now if
>> given a chance, he or his supporters can add comments to that effect,
>> but the fact that he did vote NO should remain on the page.
>>
>>
>> Other sections could include memorable quotes (with references) links
>> to speeches, debate transcripts, etc.
>>
>>
>> The bottom line for me is I would love to be able to see that Joe Blow
>> is running for governor or whatever, then go here and type "Joe Blow"
>> and see a list of things he's voted on in the past, what
>> those things actually were about, anything he had to say about it, etc.
>>
>> Comments from random people should be left to the forums.  Comments
>> from opponets should be made on their own page, not here.
>>
>> e.g.
>> [Bill 90210] - Voted NO
>> "I voted no on this because of a rider that required all California
>> residents to replace their cars with penguins." - Mr. Candidate, 1997
>> "You voted no because you fear change and you're racist against
>> penguins." - Mr. Opponet, 2006
>>
>> The second comment should be deleted, since creating a Debate Wiki
>> would just be ugly.  Mr. Opponet can write a speech about it and link
>> that seperately on his own page if he'd like.
>>
>> Similarly:
>> [Bill 90210] - Voted NO
>> "I voted no on this because of a rider that required all California
>> residents to replace their cars with penguins.  Mr. Opponet has no
>> respect for the rights of modern Californians to not be subjected to
>> the daily abuse of penguins." - Mr. Candidate, 1997
>>
>> That should be trimmed down to read as it was before.  The second
>> sentence is not directly relevant to why he voted NO and just invites
>> a mid-wiki flamewar.
>>
>> The tighter we keep it to the relevant facts, I think, the better.
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
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>
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