ACTION! Please, act NOW to get presidential candidates online (fwd)

[James Love <love@tap.org>]

This is forwarded from Jim Warren, who manages the excellent GovAccess
listserve. Jim is a key figure in efforts to get state and local
government information on the Internet, and he is active is several other
activist causes.  (See his "self puffery" below).  Now Jim is trying to
organize an online debate between candidates, in the hope that this will
give persons who use the Internet an important opportunity to raise issues
of concern.  He is looking for help in getting the various camps to
commit, and he has made some very good progress so far.  jamie

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Feb 1996 01:36:43 -0800
From: Jim Warren <jwarren@well.com>
Subject: ACTION! Please, act NOW to get presidential candidates online

Folks,

There's a time to read and contemplate.

There's a time to discuss and debate and haggle -- with peers who have
about the equal power as you have over the nation's future.

And there's a time to ACT -- to DO SOMETHING! To MODIFY THE FUTURE.

Please ...

I urge you ... I implore you --

Act NOW.


It is obvious that we MUST act. We MUST move our nation's "leaders" --
sometimes fearfully kicking and screaming -- into the Information Age.  We
must demand that those who wish to lead us must drive the "information
superhighways" that they are so zealously, piously -- and *ignorantly* --
attempting to police.

We MUST make them aware of the net's power as a tool of freedom and
democracy -- and effective grassroots action -- before they destroy its
potential.

For they are endangering us all, through posturing stupidity and
self-rightous arrogance.

That we MUST act is obvious from numerous examples. To name just a few:
*  The administrations' (plural) zealous, continuing suppression of
standardized personal privacy protection for communications and files --
via globally- published, freely-available robust cryptography; blockading
needed privacy for business and citizens -- who are now "presumed innocent"
*only* during trial; only *after* being arrested and indicted;
*  Last year's half-billion-dollar wiretap law, that forces every telephone
company to make our nation wiretap-ready for whichever facist first chooses
to abuse that awsome power;
*  This year's successful efforts to make the government into our parent
and overseer -- a federal daddy censoring all that we say or see, if we
dare to use any "telecommunications device" (and it *doesn't* just
censoring the net!);
*  The just-passed Telecommunications Deform Act -- that grants so much
freedom to those giant corporations who paid so much to those who voted ...
freedom to create cartels, to price-gouge where they have functional
monopolies, to sell our electronic news media to unscrupulous foreigners,
and to allow whichever media giant has the most money to buy control of and
monopolize the print and broadcast news channels in any geographic area;
and
*  The legislation by senior Republican Congressman Henry Hyde, just
reported in net email, that would allegedly classify all abortion
information -- *medical*, social or political -- as "obscene," prohibiting
its discussion using any telecomm device, including telephones and the net.

(And that's not as draconian as what other senior "leaders" have proposed!)


YOU -- each of us -- CAN help presidential candidates better understand the net:


PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ONLINE DEBATE, NOW!

As one tiny step for those asking to "lead" us into the 21st Century and
the Information Age -- to help them understand the net's potential -- I
have invited presidential candidates to participate in a week of online
debate (requiring only a few minutes daily; from any place; at any time;
presumably/hopefully with their staff doing the typing).  Each day, the
candidates themselves, will question each other, followed by their
responses and then by rebuttals -- all of limited length submitted within
agreed-upon daily time limits, with pointers to additional online
information if they desire.

As the most significant current target of opportunity, I proposed the
debate for the Republican primary's presidential candidates.  Because the
driving force of their competition is likely to end after the Iowa caucuses
(2/12) and the New Hampshire primaries (2/20), I proposed that the debates
begin next Monday, Feb. 5th, and conclude Feb.11th.

If we can set the precedent with the Republicans, now, then substantive
online presidential debates will be likely prior to next November's general
elections.  If the primary debate doesn't happen now, it seems likely that
major presidential candidates will not debate online until the next
century!


MAJOR NATIONAL NEWS MEDIA COOPERATING

The U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, Knight-Ridder's MERCURY CENTER at the SAN
JOSE MERCURY NEWS, and New Jersey's second-largest newspaper, the ASHBURY
PARK PRESS, have all agreed to carry any substantive presidential debate on
their public websites, and others are likely. (As a data-point, Mercury
Center typically gets 300,000 to 400,000 hits per day, and tops 500,000 on
"hot" news days.)

Numerous reporters, columnists and editors with mainstream media have said
that they would cover any substantive online debate that included major
candidates. Today, Reuters carried a major story about the proposed debate,
and others will appear shortly in U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT and in the
NATIONAL JOURNAL -- among others.


THREE CANDIDATES HAVE ACCEPTED -- BUT FIVE OTHERS REMAIN UNCOMMITED

Lugar, Taylor and Collins have already sent signed commitments to
participate.  Another candidate said no; another said yes and signed --
then reneged (below).

The agreement is that the debate will occur only if there are at least four
candidates.  And, unless at least one more "major" candidate joins the
debate, it's doubtful that the press will consider it substantive and worth
significant coverage.

The remaining candidates *must decide by NEXT MONDAY*!!  Please -- help them:



ASK THOSE WHO WOULD BE OUR PRESIDENT TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR FUTURE -- NOW

The non-commited candidates will participate only if they believe that (1)
lots of people [voters] are interested, and (2) the press is likely to
cover it.  (The press *will* cover it, *if* several of the "major"
candidates participate.)  As a voter, please ...

        1.  Phone, fax and email the candidates, NOW, asking them to participate
        -- if they want us to believe they are competent to lead us into the
        Information Age.

        2.  Email this message to every person you know who lives or works in
        Iowa or New Hampshire (e.g., *all* the staff at the numerous computer
        magazines in NH!).

        Please - do it NOW!

Yes, the campaign managers *are* working day and night and through the weekend.



Let's demonstrate the power of the net -- before arrogance or stupidity
demolishes its power and potential.  Thanks for reading.

--jim
Jim Warren, GovAccess list-owner/editor (jwarren@well.com)
Member, Freedom-of-Information Committee, Soc. of Prof. Journalists - Nor. Cal.
Advocate & columnist, MicroTimes, Government Technology, BoardWatch, etc.
345 Swett Rd., Woodside CA 94062; voice/415-851-7075; fax/<# upon request>

[puffery:  John Dvorak Lifetime Achievement Award (1995); James Madison
Freedom-of-Information Award, Soc. of Professional Journalists - Nor.Cal.
(1994); Hugh Hefner First-Amendment Award, Playboy Foundation (1994);
Pioneer Award, Electronic Frontier Foundation (its first year, 1992);
founded the Computers, Freedom & Privacy confs, InfoWorld; blah blah blah :-).]



Lamar Alexander: 615-327-3350; fax/615-340-0397, Campaign Mgr Dan Pero
        lamar@Nashville.net
        http://www.lamar.com/~lamar/
Phil Gramm: 202-467-8600; fax/202-467-8696, Campaign Mgr Jeb Hensarling
        info@gramm96.org
        http://www.gramm96.com/
Pat Buchanan: 703-848-1996; fax/703-827-0592, Campaign Mgr Terry Jeffries
        lmuller@iquest.com
        http://www.buchanan.org/
Bob Dole: 202-414-6400; fax/202-408-9446, Campaign Mgr Scott Reed
        [apparently no email except via webpage]
        http://www.dole96.org/
Steve Forbes: 908-781-5111 [the best # I've found]; fax/908-781-6001
        forbes@forbes96.com
        http://www.forbes96.com/

Those who have commited to debate:
Dick Lugar: fax/317-931-4106, Mark Lubbers         <== WILL debate!
        rgl@iquest.net
        http://www.iquest.com/lugar/
Charles Collins: 912-994-8219; fax/912-994-7995, George Gruner  <== WILL debate!
        [may be] http://computek.net/public/collins/collins.html
Morry Taylor: fax/515-264-7510, Campaign Mgr Bill Kenyon        <== WILL debate!
        TPresident@aol.com
        http://www.webcom.com/~morry96/

Those who have delined or reneged (might be worth email or a call):
Bob Dornan: fax/703-644-5117, Campaign Mgr Terri Cobban    <== "Yes," then "No."
        [I have a staffer's email address, but I believe it's nor public]
        [may be] http://www.umr.edu/~sears/primary/dornan.html
Alan Keyes: 503-463-1818; fax/602-263-7790, Nat'l Polit.Dir George Uribe <== NO.
        GeoUribe@aol.com
        http://www.keyes.gocin.com/

Keyes campaign manager sent email saying, "I do like the concept and so
does Ambassador Keyes. Unfortunately we can't spare a week for a staffer to
service the program." (Yes, we spoke and I explained how online forums
operate, and how easily they can be done using minimal and flexible time.)

Dornan campaign manager Terri Cobban verbally agreed to debate, twice --
two days apart -- and they later faxed a written commitment, signed
explicitly by "Bob Dornan." But on Wednesday afternoon (1/31), Cobban
called and said they were cancelling. When I asked for a signed fax
confirming this, she said, "No, I feel a verbal statement is sufficient at
this time."