Web Forum Solution for Voters

The Web Forum, The Solution to Learning Your Local Politics
by James Carvin 8/31/04

Very few people know much about the people running for their city councils, county commissions, sherrif's offices, district courts or the myriads of local elected offices. A surprising percentage will vote knowing nothing at all. An even larger percentage will vote having seen no more than a sign on a road.

It just happens and the politicians know it. That's why they sue those signs. Scenario - you want to be a responsible US citizen so you do the extra good thing and vote during a primary election. You decide to take your precious time and do "your duty" to your country. "After all," you reason, "this right was purchased with a river of blood."

You are exactly right. The lives of our soldiers bought you this right. You now have a duty and a responsibility. The problem is you don't have a clue who all these candidates are. They send you flyers in the mail and they stand out on street corners with their families and friends. You see their signs along the road.

And then you wind up in a voting booth. So what? Are you supposed to pick the one with the most signs? the one with the best design? the most people holding them? Do you base it on a better looking flyer? What's better, glossy or black and white, trifold or index card? More said, or less? Is this the kind of decision making our countrymen died for? Unfortunately, yes. If not you then people you've known have proven it.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Now that there is an Internet, you can actually get to know your candidates before entering the voting booth. Of course, there are other ways to get to know them too. Actually go to your public meetings. Or follow the news. But you don't have time to go to the meetings. And the news is slanted. Personally, I am sometimes angry enough to vote for whatever candidate opposes the candidate our local paper endorses. Sound familiar?

Enter the web master. Some politicians have web sites. Others don't. Some sites are well done, others not. In the average candidate's eyes, a good web site is like a glorified flyer. And the web to them is just another form of marketing. The downside is it isn't cost effective to pay for a great web site unless there is a means of obtaining targeted traffic. Many perfectly qualified local politicians will forego them to save time and money. That's not a bad thing. But it leaves us info seekers in the dark.

Their own web sites lacking, we go to Google searches to see what others may have written about them. These get us results about 70% of the time, usually directing us to articles in our local news. Well, that's a help. By going to the "cached" links on Google results we can read articles we missed some months ago. Better yet, any given town may have two or more papers. If you're lucky, they won't have the same ideological spin.

I did this myself just last night. I took my little voter's guide I received in the mail and tried to find out as much as I could about each of the candidates. After about three hours of work I had some idea of who I was dealing with for about half of the candidates.

Perhaps, Google isn't the best alternative. Three hours is more time than most of us have for the value of one vote.

Really, the ideal place to get the kind of info most voters really need just prior to an election is an electronic bulletin board system - a web forum. All that's required is that candidates and voters alike learn to use them.

A web forum is a way for a politician to provide an unlimited amount of information without cost. It is also a way for an opponent to respond to that information item by item - also without cost. In fact, it is a way to have a debate that everyone has access to from the comfort of their own home, and in their own time, and without shouting matches and sound bites.

It costs nothing for either the candidates or the voters to participate. And it would make our voters smarter. Wouldn't that make our towns better? Wouldn't that help us keep our politicians accountable? Using web forums is as easy as using e-mail. And just as fulfilling and addictive. There is no catch.

As for me, I have been setting up and moderating web forums since 1997. I also know what it takes to drive targeted traffic to a forum, having maintained communities as large as 30,000 with web hits above 20 million/month. Through web forums I know that every candidate could have a fair shake. Politics doesn't have to be reduced to fund raising, marketing and cronyism. It can be about issues in the midst of an informed voting public. And we the people can become a better smarter people. For these many reasons, I've decided to offer my services.

Give the blood of our soldiers what is due. Get involved with this. There are a number of things you can do to help.