American Candidate
Submitted for your amusement...and perhaps serious consideration.
By now we've all heard the lament that more people pay attention to "American Idol" than vote. Then there's the perception that elected officials aren't "like us." What if you could combine both those thoughts and get voters more interested and involved? How about "American Candidate?"
Get 10 or 15 average, down-to-earth folks who might not otherwise have name recognition or the financial wherewithal to make a viable bid for office, but who would be interested and willing to run. You probably wouldn't want to run incumbents here, because you'd really be looking for "Average Joe (or Jane)." You'd want people who could easily be your next-door-neighbor.
Take 8 or 10 weeks. Every week there's a new "task." Each task could be focused on a particular issue, and/or you could have tasks like coming up with a budget that require cooperation among the contestants. Film a half- or one-hour show each weekend of the contestants participating in the task. Put it on YouTube. Have people vote for the contestant of their choice - lowest vote getter is gone.
Yes, there would be a lot to be worked out on how the voting happens. Pure internet voting - early and often? Pay-as-you-vote, like a text message fee or a toll call? That would make it more difficult on out-of-district moonbats attempting to skew the numbers. Attempts to limit voting to Rs or Rs and Us would necessitate some offline voting method / verification and would probably be time- and effort-prohibitive. Would it - should it be partisan? If it's not, is the winner more credible?
What office would you do this for? A lower office means more ability to verify votes (assuming you wanted to do that), but less buzz and probably less participation from viewers/voters. Higher office means more interest, but more difficulty in verifying votes and less credibility if you don't.
What does the winner get? Name recognition - this would probably generate quite a bit of media buzz. Money? I'm sure the campaign finance laws would have to be consulted. How would you fund a money prize? Perhaps with the buck-a-vote you charge?
Awaiting your slings and arrows...
Submitted for your amusement...and perhaps serious consideration.
By now we've all heard the lament that more people pay attention to "American Idol" than vote. Then there's the perception that elected officials aren't "like us." What if you could combine both those thoughts and get voters more interested and involved? How about "American Candidate?"
Get 10 or 15 average, down-to-earth folks who might not otherwise have name recognition or the financial wherewithal to make a viable bid for office, but who would be interested and willing to run. You probably wouldn't want to run incumbents here, because you'd really be looking for "Average Joe (or Jane)." You'd want people who could easily be your next-door-neighbor.
Take 8 or 10 weeks. Every week there's a new "task." Each task could be focused on a particular issue, and/or you could have tasks like coming up with a budget that require cooperation among the contestants. Film a half- or one-hour show each weekend of the contestants participating in the task. Put it on YouTube. Have people vote for the contestant of their choice - lowest vote getter is gone.
Yes, there would be a lot to be worked out on how the voting happens. Pure internet voting - early and often? Pay-as-you-vote, like a text message fee or a toll call? That would make it more difficult on out-of-district moonbats attempting to skew the numbers. Attempts to limit voting to Rs or Rs and Us would necessitate some offline voting method / verification and would probably be time- and effort-prohibitive. Would it - should it be partisan? If it's not, is the winner more credible?
What office would you do this for? A lower office means more ability to verify votes (assuming you wanted to do that), but less buzz and probably less participation from viewers/voters. Higher office means more interest, but more difficulty in verifying votes and less credibility if you don't.
What does the winner get? Name recognition - this would probably generate quite a bit of media buzz. Money? I'm sure the campaign finance laws would have to be consulted. How would you fund a money prize? Perhaps with the buck-a-vote you charge?
Awaiting your slings and arrows...
posted by Olivier Kozlowski | 1:54 PM
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