If we build it, will they come? UPDATED

I'm peeking in from my chores. We are having a huge bonfire party tonight at our house and I have lots to do to get ready. Here's my take on this:

We built it and they came. The last couple of live-blog sessions have been upon request. That doesn't mean we sit and wait for everyone else to come around, but it's a far cry from the days when momoaizo and I were begging candidates to simply let us interview them off-blog. Most of the time our emails/phone calls didn't even get a reply. That was summer 2006 if I recall correctly. We've come a long way in a very short period of time.

We've already taken steps that will make the site more appealing to those who aren't as angry as we are (James and I are cussing less for starters...hahaha) and we've redesigned the site to allow us to highlight live-blogs and interviews so they remain in the spotlight long enough to make it worth the candidate's time.

The most important thing to do when we go seeking live-blog sessions is to coordinate our efforts so the campaigns/candidates aren't getting four different calls from four different BlueNC community members. James and I already touch base on this frequently, but we aren't the only people who can arrange live-blog sessions. HINT HINT

Just so you know.....

Marshall Adame will be blogging live on Wednesday January 16, 2008 at 6:30 - 7:30, but I'm sure he'll hang around longer to make sure he gets all the questions.

Tricia Cotham has agreed to a live-blog session, but we don't have her on the calendar yet.

We'll pull together the live-blog debate with the lt gov candidates later in the spring. That was an excellent idea, but they have live debates coming up and busy schedules AND we need the time to figure out the format. This could be tricky.

But Perdue and Moore ain't no Dellinger or Besse. The latter two are truly impressive.

I suppose Perdue and Moore think it somehow beneath them, or perhaps, given the kind of negotiations that go with the scheduling of these debates -- the who stands where and who asks questions and so on and so forth -- they dislike the lack of control either could exert on a blog where anyone could ask them anything.

I would have thought that at least someone from Moore's campaign would join this blog to stick up for the feller. I have certainly done so, but not in a pro-Moore sense as much as anti-Perdue and, honestly, in response to my b.s. sensor. (It isn't that I *enjoy* being slowly but gently strangled by Anglico!)

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
-Edmund Burke

Anglico,

Bev and Zach Ambrose would love the opportunity to participate in live blog sessions. Let's get it scheduled this week.

Justin Guillory
Bev Perdue Campaign

My note to Treasurer Moore's campaign

**********************

Hi Jay.

I'm writing in my capacity as a front-pager at BlueNC to invite you and Treasurer Moore to live-blogging sessions with us. It's an idea we're just now cooking up, so the details aren't locked in. As you can see at our site, we're interested in finding a way to move the public discussion past all the tit-for-tatting into more substance about important policy issues.

I suspect you think I've been part of the problem . . . and maybe I have been. For that I apologize. Though I have been a Perdue supporter since the early days, I am currently so disillusioned with the whole darn mess that I just about want to cry.

But instead of crying I'm hoping to start some new momentum in a more positive direction . . . a new year, a new leaf.

Please let me know if you're interested. I'd like to have you (Jay) on personally, as well as Zach from Perdue's campaign. And the two candidates of course. You've seen our live blogging format, and I'm expecting things to roll out that way, more or less.

I regret that we haven't had the chance to talk or meet. You probably figured I'm such a jerk that it wouldn't be worth the trouble. I can understand that. But you should also know I'm committed to being an equal opportunity critic and fan, ready to call bullshit on both candidates, and cheer both on as well.

I hope you're open to this. I promise it'll be good for the race overall - and good for both candidates.

James Protzman

I certainly hope that they take us up on the offer.

I suspect that beyond Justin at Perdue's campaign, there are not many involved at the upper levels of the campaigns who are that savvy with the Tubes, or we wouldn't have seen the weird roll-out of tv commercials in email. They're trying, I think, and if will follow the lead of the LG campaigns on this (well, most of them, anyhow), they'll learn a lot, and whoever wins the Primary will be better off in the General election.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi

Richard Moore would welcome an opportunity to discuss his priorities and plans for North Carolina.

-Eli Kaplan
The Richard Moore Committee

See.....Not that I want to rub it in your face or anything....but I told you so. :)

Now we just have to keep from dropping the ball. :)

Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.

might be more comfortable for candidates who are not used to the fast pace of typing, refreshing, etc. My husband and I have both done transcription for this type of thing before - and I'd be glad to do it again. The way it works is that a moderator would be online, fielding the questions, and the typist would be on the phone with the candidate/representative, getting the answers and posting them back to the blog. It requires either a three-way connection with the moderator/typist/candidate or instant messenger contact between typist and moderator.

Of course, if the candidate is comfortable fielding their own questions, and typing for themselves, or having someone from their campaigns do it, they can do that as well.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi

competing open threads with the two candidates

would be best, so we can avoid the natural desire to compare the two candidates' speed of response, verbal skills, etc. It should also (theoretically) cut down on the number of questions piling up for each to deal with in the alotted timeframe.

and make it only two fields. One for Perdue and one for Moore. Those brief posts could link to the competing open threads. Both candidates are then at the top of the page with the same amount of space. We could even alternate which candidate has their post stickied at the top so nobody has an advantage. (They might not really care, though.) :) We still have a lot of people who read BlueNC who have slow connections. I've been advised that we need to appeal to the lowest common denominator, which does not go over too well with me, but I do understand. This wouldn't be just for us. Others would be tuning in.

Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.

To get some sort of chat interface going, whether it be some sort of java embed on the site, or even just an old fashioned AIM chat or GMail chat? The transcripts could be archived on the site or something. I guess to me there's just something terribly unappealing of a live blog the way these comments are set up. Kill me for the suggestion if need be, maybe I'm just picky.

AIM Chat or Gmail chat because we would not have the ability to moderate should it become necessary. There are platforms set up for that kind of thing - they cost bundles. (Hubby does this stuff for a living.) The traffic created by having both candidates on at the same time could be phenomenal, which would be good, but could also cause the server to crash, which would be really bad and embarrassing.

I'm not sure if the campaigns would have issues with who would be first, etc. If that's a problem we could try to plan them both in the same day, if schedules permitted.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi