A suggestion about DEM candidate threads

[DEMActivist]

Are we adult enough to police ourselves and give the mods and ADMIN at DU a break from these fights?

I propose that each candidate camp appoint a "Daily <insert candidate name> Thread" starter and prepare a thread of all the good news of the campaign. Use the Daily Stock Market Thread as an example.

Post the positives about your candidate. Post the important information of the day from your candidate. Give the mods a break from 40 candidate threads a day to the 9 declared candidate threads. Keep it positive, show your candidate's positives and argue your stand in a single daily thread. Make the "bashers" come to you under the good message of the day. Then don't allow bashing, self police and DEBATE your candidate's good points.

Stay out of the threads for candidates you don't support. Sell, sell, sell your candidate. Tell the DU lurkers why YOUR candidate is the best choice.

I'm sure the candidates would love to see this kind of tactic being used.

As a Dean supporter, I nominiate DUer Kephera as the Daily Dean Thread custodian. I would be honored to post in that thread daily and show folks why I support Dean.

Kucinich supporters, you game?

Kerry supporters, how about you?

Can we make DU a positive place for Democratic presidential candidates? I KNOW we can. I challenge you all to help me prove it.

[BrewCrew]

1. sound fair

if everyone is game than count me in? i'd be willing to do it for Gephardt. I know, his supporters aren't really a strong number here, but it sounds good. I try and keep al my posts positive anyway. sounds like the grown up thing to do.

[DEMActivist]

2. Thank you BrewCrew....now where are the other camps?

Come on Kucinich, Kerry, Lieberman, Mosley-Braun, Sharpton, Edwards, Graham supporters!

Sell your candidate - accept the challenge.

[angka]

3. a fine idea.

i'll look forward to both dean and draftgore threads...

:)

[DEMActivist]

5. Thanks, angka!

You're going to do the Daily Draft Gore thread, I hope? More power to the Draft Gore contingent.

[salin]

4. As one who has not selected a candidate... I think this would be most

helpful. Let me keep informed - and start raising my own questions (not the accusations of others), start raising my own awareness and admiration (based on the news items/updates), and let me stop avoiding pretty much all of the threads because they quickly get to the point where the discussion is very distorted, mutually dismissive (eg two in a flame war just dismissing one another) and petty.

[chimpymustgo]

6. I'm for it. I'll do Edwards.

Great idea!

[DEMActivist]

9. Whooo hooo, go chimpymustgo!

If you touch base with the Edwards camp with the idea, I bet they'd even provide you with some daily talking points and Edwards' schedule.

That holds true for EACH candidate.

This makes all DUers better informed and aware of their candidate's schedule.

[DEMActivist]

7. Exactly, salin!!! Positive, positive, positive

There just aren't any negatives to this approach. Detractors are free to post in the daily thread, but sure to be debated about their stand.

This allows all DUers to concentrate on what needs to be at the forefront about all the candidates.

Not to mention it makes life easier for the poor mods who must be beat to death over all these flame wars.

[goobergunch]

8. I'm game...

and I'll second the nomination of khephra for the Daily Dean thread.

[tpub]

10. I would love this, too!

I heartily support Kerry. I nominate DrFunkenstein to do Kerry if he has the time...

:thumbsup:

[Nashyra]

11. I'm not here every day would anyone do it on Clark

or do we have to wait for him to declare, it seems we have to Draft candidates Gore and Clark are they included?

[DEMActivist]

12. Yes, let the Clark supporters do it too!

Why not? If he is a potential candidate, I say let's sell him!!!!

Feel free to start a Daily Wesley Clark Thread.

[drdigi420]

13. Best idea yet

it sure beats the holy rollers trying to sell their god to us in every other thread, which seems to be in vogue as of late.

[Christian73]

14. I would offer to help but I'm a Dean man.

I think it's a great idea though.

It's important that we realize that all the candidates have good qualities and not allow the freepers to breed devisiveness between us.

[DEMActivist]

15. Refuse to let the bashing threads kick this off the front page

Time to take control!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

16. unfortunately the jerks causing problems dont share your noble goals

unfortunately the jerks causing problems dont share your noble goals

There are only about 5-6 posters who are ruining this for everybody.
I don't really know why they haven't been banned as disruptors, since it is obvious when reading the threads that that's exactly what they are doing. How many threads start about a news story, press release, or issue and quickly degenerate into the exact same p**ing match between the same posters as a hundred others?


The only way to raise the level of debate would be higher level of moderation. I wonder if the adminstrators thought of using slashcode which is a user-moderated system.

[DEMActivist]

18. Then you let their threads sink

like a rock in a pool of water. Stick with the positive threads and ignore the negatives.

If they want attention (which is EXACTLY what they seek) they'll have to come to YOUR DOOR.

Take charge, BE THE LEADER and don't follow the disruptors.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

19. the problem is they will fill up your nine threads

the problem is they will fill up your nine threads with the same heckling and sniping as all the others. Then the loyal and reasonable supporters of whatever candidate will be obligated to respond to the mischaracterizations, insults, distortions, etc. You can't expect supporters to let that stuff go unanswered.

[DEMActivist]

20. Good! Then we can debate the issues

Inside the threads. In one place. In a concentrated area instead of all over DU.

That's the goal.

[quinnox]

17. It would be nice

to see a daily thread on candidates that don't get talked about much here, like Edwards. But I'm afraid the implication that the talk on the particular candidates be confined to these certain threads and that others can't start threads on the same candidate just won't work and is not realistic.

[DEMActivist]

21. Try it, you might like it.

As an oldie to DU, I happen to KNOW that you are wrong.

It is up to US, the DU community to take back the DEBATE.

Are you game?

[GBD4]

22. Senator Bob Graham

This sounds like a great idea! If no one else steps up, I'll do the Graham thread. I know RowdyBoy,lkinsale,seafan,samuraijack and some others (DemocratSinceBirth I think), would probably also help me out with that. Saturday mornings are really the only days I'd have trouble taking care of it, I am out all morning til about 3 in the afternoon! But the other days I'd certainly be glad to start up a daily Bob Graham thread.

[WilliamPitt]

23. How do you keep the flame warriors from burning down

these proposed threads? No locks on the doors.

[DEMActivist]

24. You don't...

you concentrate them in one place and allow the fighters to duke it out once and for all.

Somehow, I see the Kerry detractors rapidly escaping the deluge of answers they can't handle.

It's the fractious nature of the threads (spread all over DU) which allow it to go on and on and on and on.....

[WilliamPitt]

25. Sounds good to me n/t

[burr]

27. What you call a flame warrior is what another calls a Democratic fighter.

Politics is the art of street fighting. The opposition campaigns will use every tactic at their disposal to take your candidate down in the primaries. If you are a liberal supporting Dean or Kucinich, you may see these candidates as your way to again stake your claim on the Democratic Party. If you were unhappy with your vote for Al Gore, not thrilled with Bill Bradley...this is the year to take your party back. If you were a liberal that felt driven out of the ranks because the party did not have an agenda, this is your time!

Primaries exist so we can win back our party, without going through party bosses or some sort of corrupt financial machine. And to say that DUers, who rightfully criticize primary candidates who have attacked their candidate, are flame warriors goes against the ideals of the Democratic process.

I thought this site existed to bring people back into the system, to activate their interest in our candidates, and to give DUers a chance to express their feelings about the primary agenda as well some the flaws of the candidates. Without this opportunity, their will be nothing but cynicism toward the two party system in November.

[Eloriel]

26. Fabulous idea

Like you, I've absolutely had enough. It's past time for something different. Thanks for a creative and inspired idea.

Eloriel

[DEMActivist]

29. Good to see you Eloriel!

How about volunteering to do the Dean thread? I haven't seen Kef accept yet.....

I'd really like to see threads which lay out small paragraphs on thier stand with links to the full page on their web site followed by the day's headlines and schedule for the candidate.

Dr. Dean is likely to keep us all busy. He really does keep the news flowing doesn't he?

I love his latest with the TX ads!!!! Whoooo hoooo, this guy is gassroots all the way.

[Darranar]

28. Great Idea...

Not sure how we could regulate it, though. I nominate JohnKleeb for the Kucinich campaign.

[DEMActivist]

30. Great! Will you contact/ask JohnKleeb for us?

It's really nice to see so much positive response to this. I think it says most of us are really tired of this fighting and nastiness!

[Eloriel]

31. Okay, everyone -- so where are the official candidate threads?

Had some promises here to start your candidates' threads. Where are they?

Eloriel

[GBD4]

32. Graham is up

I just started the Graham thread, I am still adding to it, but it's up finally.