Gubernatorial E-Debate

[SeeKer]

The e-debate starts on Monday, October 9th and goes through Thursday, October 19th on e-democracy.org.

 

 

Go to e-democracy.org's Gubernatorial E-Debate

 

E-Democracy.Org and the Blandin Foundation are hosting online debates with the 2006 Minnesota gubernatorial candidates. Participating candidates will debate four major themes and reply to 10 short answer questions based on your submissions. All the candidates on the ballot have officially confirmed their participation.

 

Submit a Question The deadline for submitting questions is Tuesday, October 10. The E-Democracy team will be selecting from the questions and topics submitted from the general public.

 

Follow the Debate Online The e-debate will run October 9 – 19 from the web site (linked above). Or you can sign up to get the debate in your e-mail inbox.

 

The e-democracy web site has other valuable information for the 2006 election, including MyBallot.net (search by zip code to view the names on your ballot and a poll place finder), Voter Voices (voter-generated content about Minnesota's 2006 election and politics, including videos, podcasts, blogs, and photos), and links to candidate websites.

 

Please utilize this opportunity to find out about your candidates before going to the polls and circling what Xawo,Muhammed or whoever told you to circle.

[Che -Guevara]

The inclusion of voters into these debates is somewhat valuable, but the responses given by the candidates is very scripted, hardly reflects his/her veiw on given question, and rarely deviates from agenda set by the campaign managers. The whole political scene needs a reformation, and the hold of these two parties need to be broken.

 

As for my state, for first time we might have minority candidate winning the governership. web page I will be probably voting for him. He looks the best choice out there.

[SeeKer]

I agree that the answers are probably scripted but I still think Somali community would do well with actually getting information from the horses mouth and dicerning if they side with the candidates.

 

I say this from experience. During the primaries I was in a booth next to an old somali woman and her son. He was telling her what to circle. He probably knew what he was talking about but I think half the time somalis go to the ballot with someone else's choice. On the same day I got a call from my aunt urguing me to vote for a certain candidate. I nearly burst out with, "Its my vote, I can do what I want with it!" but I politely listened to her and told her I will be voting as to who I will be voting for its still unknown.

 

Its good to see more minorities in the political spectrum. Keith Ellison is the immediate one I can think of in MN.

[Che -Guevara]

I understand where you are coming from and I wouldn't encourage political apathy. It is what get us where we are today. Having said that, the more you educate yourself about politics, the more discouring it seems, but it is very important to make your voices heard as the candidates will only listen to those that immerse and take interest in their campaigns. And this is where Somali Community Centers should step in and educate voters (atleast those with limited language skills) about the issues and the men/women running for offices.