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10Questions Update: Changing the Debate via Debates

BY Daniel Teweles | Thursday, September 2 2010

10Questions is a project of Personal Democracy Forum

10Questions is an experiment; one with ambitious goals. Namely, we want to prove the efficacy of the internet's crowd sourcing ability, combined with the connective power of online video. Doing so will help open up public participation in political debates around campaigns and allow us, Americans from every walk of life, to directly participate in what should be a truly democratic discussion each election season.

Last night the California Senate candidates faced off in a debate. The debate featured several video questions from members of the public. While we applaud their inclusion, we would be remiss if we did not note that they served more as multimedia fodder than true citizen engagement.

In disrupting the status quo of political debate in America, we've realized that we can provide traditional debates questions from a critical mass of constituents now. Truly crowd-sourced questions have long been the white unicorn of debates (often referenced, never seen), until now.

We are pleased to announce that this fall some of the top 10 Questions in California's Gubernatorial Forum and Georgia's 12th Congressional District Forum will be incorporated into live, televised debates for those races' candidates!

10Questions partner, The Sacramento Bee, in coordination with KCRA, Capital Public Radio and the University of California, Davis will be hosting a debate for CA Gubernatorial Candidates Meg Whitman (R) and Jerry Brown (D) on Sept. 28 on the UC Davis campus. The debate will feature the top question from the 10Questions CA Gubernatorial Forum.

In Georgia, 10Questions partner Digital Bridges, in coordination with GCSU's American Democracy Project, will be hosting a debate for GA-12 candidates John Barrow (D) and Raymond McKinney (R). The debate will feature multiple questions from the 10Questions GA-12 Forum.

Candidates:

We're excited to announce that the following candidates have agreed to answer their constituents' questions in the coming weeks.

Rep. Kendrick Meek (D)
FL-Senate

Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski (R)
MI-Congress

Don't see your candidate(s) participating? Email them; tell them you think they should answer the questions that you and your fellow constituents have identified as the most important.

Site Wide Totals:

Total Questions: 400
Total Votes: 2,854

Most Activity:

GA- Governor Forum
Total Questions: 70
Total Votes: 912

Partners:

Our impressive list of media heavyweights, blog all-stars, and grassroots mobilizers continues to grow in the run up to election day. That the 10Questions umbrella is able to gather such a diverse group of interests, outlets, and organizations is a testament to the pervasiveness of the idea that together, we can create a more responsive, accountable class of elected officials.

The Sacramento Bee, Huffington Post, Huffington Post College, State Column, Digital Bridges, and Think Magazine are all using 10Questions to engage their readers and/or members.




In the Press:

In the past week, Read Write Web, San Francisco Chronicle, Charlotte Observer, Vote Again 2010, Why Tuesday?, Think Progress, and The Miami Herald have all covered 10Questions.

News Briefs

RSS Feed yesterday >

What Twitter Won't Tell You About the Election

A new study released on Tuesday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press on Tuesday offers the opportunity to get real about what the political conversation on Twitter and Facebook can — or can't — tell you about the progression of the 2012 political campaign. Pew has found that even among users of Twitter and Facebook, a paltry percentage of people use social networks to get news about politics: Only 24 percent of Twitter users in the sample and 25 percent of Facebook users said they "sometimes" got campaign news through that network, while a full 40 percent of Twitter users in the sample and 46 percent of other social media users reported "never" getting campaign news through either Twitter or Facebook. GO

Navigating New York's "Road Map for the Digital City," One Year In

In May 2011, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg revealed a "Road Map for the Digital City," a plan to use technology to make city government more and participatory, and to leverage the city's tech sector for economic and civic gains.

New York City Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne will join our editorial director, Micah Sifry, on a conference call this Friday afternoon to discuss the progress on that road map so far. The call is free and open to anyone to join. You can sign up here.

GO

tuesday >

Pete Hoekstra's Campaign Website's "Offensive" Source Code Changed After Outcry

As if "chop suey fonts" and obvious graphic allusions to the stereotype of the Chinese as the Yellow Peril weren't controversial enough, the group that created an incendiary microsite for former Rep. Pete Hoekstra's campaign has managed to further fan the flames with what it's calling a mistake in its code. GO

Fidel Castro Loves the Internet

“The Internet is a revolutionary instrument that permits the receiving and transmission of ideas, in both directions, that is something we should know how to use,” Fidel Castro told a crowd of supporters on Feb. 4, according to the state-owned Cuban newspaper Granma International. Castro, who made his first public appearance since April 2011, launched his two-volume memoir, “Guerilla of Time,” and took the opportunity to discuss issues of importance to him. Earlier this week, Miranda Neubauer reported that one of these topics was the need for the Internet. Castro has been a proponent of the Internet as a tool for the exchange of ideas since 2003, but the average Cuban citizen faces great difficulty getting online. GO

Claire McCaskill Hires Blue State Digital's Alex Kellner As Digital Director

Missouri's senior Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill has hired Blue State Digital's Alex Kellner as its digital director. GO

Controversial Hoekstra Microsite Targeting Debbie Stabenow Created By The Prosper Group

Michigan Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra has caused a firestorm in the past 24 hours with a new campaign ad that depicts China as a young woman riding a bike in a rural area speaking in broken English. The thirty second spot aired in Michigan during the Super Bowl on Sunday, and it accuses Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow of aiding ... GO

White House CTO Aneesh Chopra's Exit Interview

On his way out of the White House and back to Virginia, where he is expected to run for public office — but will neither confirm or deny that's the plan — Aneesh Chopra describes the shape of the post he pioneered as the country's first-ever chief technology officer.

As a result of Chopra's interview with The Atlantic's tech/politics correspondent, Nancy Scola, there's now a public record of what this first-ever CTO thinks the CTO's job actually is ("On any topic that is a priority for the president, my role is evaluate how technology, data, and innovation can advance, support, and improve upon those strategies," among other things) and how it might be improved.

GO

friday >

Slovenian ambassador apologizes for signing ACTA, Poland halts ratification

Apparently, some EU countries are reconsidering their support to ACTA, only a week after signing the agreement.
Helena Drnovsek Zorko, Slovenia's ambassador to Japan, has in fact issued a public apology to her country for signing it. Meanwhile, Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk says he's halting the ratification process of the international treaty.
Last week people took the streets in Poland, and a protest is planned in Ljubljana tomorrow. GO

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