When I first started blogging in late 2004, I never dreamed that I would someday write this sentence: If you have a question you'd like me to consider asking the next President of the United States, submit it here.
Holy online democracy, Batman! A little over two weeks from today, the second annual YearlyKos Convention in Chicago, IL will host a Democratic Presidential Candidate Forum August 4, 2007, led by top blogger mcjoan, New York Times journalist Matt Bai, and yours truly.
While mcjoan and Bai have been charged with the task of writing and posing the candidates questions on stage, I have the best job of all: finding the best questions submitted from the netroots and asking them to the candidates on behalf of all of all of you.
Here's a description of the event from the YearlyKos website:
Submitted questions will be considered for use in the YearlyKos Convention Presidential Leadership Forum on Saturday August 4, 2007 in Chicago. Confirmed candidates include Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Barack Obama, Gov. Bill Richardson, and Sen. Christopher Dodd.
We live in an Internet age with an abundance of information, and while we can visit a website to read about a candidate's policies or hear the latest speech, there is still no substitute for real live answers to real life questions. The forum is an opportunity to have a discussion about the issues that matter and hear detailed responses to the questions America needs answered.
The goal of this unique citizen-driven forum is to truly democratize the discussions and providing a meaningful role for regular citizens and grassroots movements to engage, vet and judge our country's potential leaders. Learn more about the YearlyKos Convention here.
Now, it may seem obvious that we will not have time to ask the candidates all the questions submitted to us online--but I will repeat it anyhow: we will not have time to ask all the candidates all the questions submitted to us online. In all likelihood, we will be lucky if we have a chance to ask a dozen that are submitted. That means that we will have to go through all the questions submitted and find the best.
So the trick to submitting a question to the YearlyKos candidate forum is not just to toss off the first thing that comes to mind, but to try to write a question that sticks out fro the pile--a question so good that it screams "Ask me!"
Talk It Up!
The best questions in any situation are often the end results of ongoing discussion. What this means for the YearlyKos candidate forum is that the chance to ask your question is also an opportunity to lead a discussion on DailyKos about the kind of questions you would like to ask the candidates.
Thinking about submitting a question? Try posting a diary on the subject first, leading a discussion with a group of people interested in your topic, and then working together to generate a few great questions.
Know people who have questions, but do not blog? Tell people in or family, at school or at work about this opportunity to submit a question, lead a discussion at the dinner table, in a car pool, or around the water cooler. Then submit the questions that emerge from your conversations. Bring more voices to the table through your own outreach.
My point? Each question we pose will come from individuals, as well as the online communities where we participate in political debate. The YearlyKos forum will not only guarantee that our next president answers questions from bloggers, but gives us an opportunity to make sure our next president hears the voice of our country.
Seize The Opportunity, Lead The Debate!
I invite everyone to link over to the YearlyKos page and submit a question, and to invite everyone you know to do the same.
But I encourage you all to use this question submission process as an opportunity to drive the debate--to first pose your question in your own DailyKos diary (or two or three or ten) and then generate questions through the deliberative discussions that have become such an important part of our lives.
What an amazing sight it would be if over the next two weeks, the DailyKos diaries came alive with dozens and dozens of issue and policy debates, all with the scope of finding the best questions to ask the presidential candidates in the forum.
And what an amazing milestone it would be if thousands of lurkers on this site who have never posted a diary were to suddenly grab hold of this opportunity to get their feet wet--to post their first diary.
I believe very deeply in the promise of the YearlyKos convention and in the Presidential Forum in particular. But even more than the convention itself, I believe that what happens in the DailyKos diaries is the raw stuff of American democracy itself. The DailyKos diaries are not just some throw away side show separated from the real writing by a column of BlogAds. The diaries are the truthful, insightful and passionate voice of the people--and symbolize the great hope that dedication to democratic institutions persists in our country even in times of great doubt and cynicism.
And I am not alone in that belief.
So join in! Lead the discussion, submit your questions, and help us make sure the voice of our country rings loud and true in Chicago.
Links:
Submit your question here.
Learn more about YearlyKos here.
Read a press release about the candidate forum here.