News-Miner Editorial
United we stand
A call to arms in the coming campaign onslaught
Published Wednesday, June 11, 2008
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Stumble It!It’s been a while since Alaska has seen an election that has the potential to reshape — for good or bad, depending on your viewpoint — the state’s congressional delegation.
And yet that’s what we have at the moment. By all accounts, longtime incumbent Rep. Don Young has a serious primary challenge from within the Republican party. Sen. Ted Stevens, a still-longer longtime incumbent, has what at the moment appears to be a lesser challenge from within the GOP but would face a major challenge from the Democratic side if he makes it to the November general election.
At the legislative level here in Fairbanks, Rep. Mike Kelly finds himself up against two other Republicans in the campaign for House District 7. No other local candidate has as many challengers from within the same party.
This will be an interesting campaign season, all right.
And we want your help in reporting on it.
The Internet has changed the way people get their news about candidates and the issues. The mainstream media — and you can count the Daily News-Miner among that lot — constantly find themselves looking to adapt the tools of the Web to how it covers political campaigns. The smart ones are making good use of their readers when it comes to the Web and campaign coverage.
We’ve had some success, in previous elections, at getting readers to help us question the candidates. We want to do that again. Send us your questions to newsroom@newsminer.com or fax them to 452-7917. Include your name and phone number in case we need to contact you. And try to be concise in your question.
We’re also looking for help on the campaign trail. Things can move fast in a campaign, and we can’t be everywhere. If you see or hear things out there that are telling about a candidate, let us know and we’ll check it out. If you’re a database hound and like to spend time scouring the Alaska Public Offices Commission files online, let us know if you find something interesting. Our staff looks at those files, too, and at the files of the Federal Election Commission, but we don’t — and can’t — catch it all.
We’ll also have our election blog fired up shortly and will post things there. You can add your info, though there will be strict adherence to the rules of the User Agreement.
And we’ll want your help in flagging any misleading or inaccurate campaign advertisements. The ads will be all over the place in the weeks and months ahead, and campaigns oftentimes play loose with the facts. We can’t let them. Let us know, either by e-mail or by calling the newsroom at 459-7575, if you come across a political ad you think is questionable.
We want your help. The media and the public can, working together, be a good team throughout this important election season.
Community Discussion
Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.
Gosh, what a great idea, getting people involved deeper into the elections. Good charge Newsminer. I hope people will respond to the call. Please be sure to check out people's facts though. Because things go fast and furious during an election, it is real easy for misinformation to take a foothold. I hope other papers pick up on your lead.
Political blogs and comment threads are only as good as the as the writers that are identified. Most of your users remain unidentifiable, and their comments are frequently, at best, mis-informed rants. Newsminer editorial staff, I suggest that you modify the user agreement such that only verifiable identities are used; the rules of commenting should be the same as those for letters to the editor, a real name and a general place of residence should be identified and verified before a user gets an account. Rod Boyce, you have stated yourself in one of the blogs that you regret the choice to allow "anonymous style" user names. Please change the rules of engagement.
Thanks,
Larry Freeman, Happy, Alaska
Good move DNM!! Hopefully, people will be able to cast a more informed ballot when they step into the voting booth. We hope and trust that no bias will enter this process, although, I am sure bias is waiting, just in the wings, to show its ugly face when things start heating up.
lfreeman-
I respectfully disagree.
Thanks,
Imusuallyright, SomewhereinFairbanks, Alaska
i'm so burned out from the clinton vs obama thing..... i don't think i can handle anymore right now.
I disagree also. I have good reason for not sharing my ID, and I think that should be respected.
with posters such as Larry Freeman of Happy, AK scouring the blogs for "mis-informed rants", anonymity is priceless...
Larry,
Unfortunately the way some people operate, if someone publicly posts a comment there may be unwanted consequences for that - even if the comment is the complete truth. Persons holding public office have been known to abuse their power from time to time. Even non-public officials who have some public influence have done it.
And yes, anonymity also does allow some people behave like mindless fools. That is unfortunately going to happen. But there's a place for anonymous posting. Remember the Federalist Papers?
It is up to the reader to determine whether or not a poster's words have any merit.
Anonymity is important for members of the military in order to avoid the appearance of engaging in political activities.
It's quite a weird double standard they have. They won't post an anonymous letter to the editor but everyone can anonymously spew their drivel here.
FDNM allows letters to the editor filled with drivel, so it does not really seem like a "double standard".
I have to say that a couple of my letters to the editor have resulted in phone calls from people who screamed at me because they didn't like my viewpoint. There are some very childish people in this town. So there's something to be said for anonymity.
I got a bit carried away on one posting a while back, and the Newsminer appropriately removed it. (The staff at this paper does a better job of monitoring the threads then the staff at the Anchorage Daily News, in my view.)
I think online names should be allowed, but we can all benefit by restraining ourselves. If you think you're going overboard, you probably are.
That said, if I agree with a candidate, then everything he/she says is God's honest truth, and if I disagree with a candidate, then he/she is the spawn of Satan. As long as we can all agree on this standard, and agree that I, not that other guy, am usually right, this forum will function just fine.
whatever you do---VOTE!!!!
I trust you, Curmudgeon. Although, strangely, I have only ever had positive and supportive phone calls to my home resulting from letters to the editor I've written. This is in direct contrast to the usually negative and unsupportive responses to my comments here. I wonder what that says...
Either way, we all think we're usually right. That's what makes this so interesting and entertaining.
I agree with che whatever you do go and vote vote vote....did I mention vote Aug. and Nov.
The day the Newsminer requires official names is the day I stop posting. Have to go with Curmudgeon on that one.
this coming election will be the first time i will vote. i have been able and registered to vote for a many years now. but i disagree with the "whatever you do, vote" ideal.
i agree with "having an opinion" but voting for indifference sake is ridiculous. if the man i want for the job isnt there, then i am not going to throw my support to someone i feel is not fit to do the job, just because i can.
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