candidate endorsement quandary

["bill london" <bill_london@hotmail.com>]

Here's a topic I would love to see discussed by more subscribers to this 
list:

During the political campaign periods, should the Vision 2020 list include 
"endorsements" or "non-endorsements" of political candidates?

Are those kinds of messages a turn-off for members or a valued service?

We've had a few comments on this subject already.  I would like to see more.

Vision 2020 serves as a community forum, like the soapbox in the park.  
Nobody screens or manages the postings.  Civil discourse is the goal, and 
with few exceptions, has been the rule.

I fear that encouraging political candidate endorsements on 2020 would 
degenerate into a pathetic name-calling mess.  But what if the opposite is 
correct?  Perhaps we would all learn more about the reputations and 
experiences of the candidates.  Maybe all we would read is petty third-hand 
gossip and innuendo.  Perhaps the scrutiny would be positive, or perhaps it 
would scare people away from offering to serve.  Maybe...

Several council candidates posted their ideas and discussed their 
motivations on the 2020 list during this campaign.  This, it seems to me, is 
different from their supporters or detractors posting messages endorsing 
candidates.  Candidates' own messages seems to me to be a good use of this 
community forum.  Please consider that aspect as well.  Perhaps you 
disagree...

I encourage you to post your ideas about encouraging discussions about 
specific candidates, or candidates' own postings on community issues, on the 
Vision 2020 list.

One use of the 2020 list that seemed to work is the questionaire we 
developed and then asked of all candidates. We then reported all responses 
on the 2020 list and on a website donated by FSR. The responses were more 
thorough than I had expected.  Several 2020 subscribers (as well as several 
candidates) contacted me to support that process.  I do expect to see, in 
future political campaign periods, continued use of the Vision 2020 list as 
a forum for those candidate questionaires.

BL

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