Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
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Welcome! Today we’re launching our Candidate Challenge, inviting you to become a WT? correspondent, and unveiling our new website and vlog! Watch the video to find our more, and sign up at the top of the page to stay involved. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! |
Sunday, September 2nd, 2007
Hey, Jacob here. Just over a year ago Why Tuesday? asked you to ask elected officials on video camera “why do we vote on Tuesday?” for a cash prize. Check out WT? on YouTube to see how many elected officials *didn’t* have a clue. That contenst was how I got involved with WT? — and I’m still involved today, prepping for the launch of our new site this fall.
Recently the election reform group and friend of WT? FairVote launched an election reform video-for-cash contest of their own, and they even throw in a trip to Washington for the winner! The contest is called Upgrade Democracy, and here’s the prompt from them, complete with a video!
“If you could change anything you wanted about elections, what would our democracy look like?”
You could win $2000 and have your video seen by celebrity judges like filmmaker Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Dazed and Confused), political guru Donna Brazile,The Daily Show’s Dan Bakkedahl, and former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic!
For ideas, see FairVote’s reform proposals — a national popular vote for president, instant runoff voting for executive offices, proportional voting for legislatures, universal voter registration and a constitutional right to vote — but let your intellect and imagination run wild.
A cool contest, and a cool group. Learn more at upgradedemocracy.com. Some video responses to FairVote’s contest are after the jump.
(more…)
Friday, August 31st, 2007
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Welcome to our new website! September 25 Why Tuesday? is going to launch a documentary video series about the state of America’s voting system. While we work out the kinks, learn more by watching the video and signing up at the top of the page to stay involved! |
Thursday, August 23rd, 2007
Just posted this to YouTube. It’s a new video with some lite election reform news, a preview of the new Why Tuesday? site, and request for participation from YT’ers.
Subscribe on our YouTube page to stay involved!
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
Our behind the scenes look at the CNN/YouTube debate is featured right now on YouTube News & Politics editor Steve Grove’s Citizentube blog, and as an editor’s pick. In the video I talk with Mike Gravel about what he calls his plan for a “national initiative” which he thinks will get people more involved in voting. Wonkette had some fun with that idea yesterday.
In this crazy system, legislation would be put to a national popular vote, allowing the rubes and nuts of America to make their own laws willy-nilly.
Wonkette links to this Mother Jones article about the initiative idea.
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
Even though our question didn’t make it into the first CNN/YouTube debate, the video got some nice buzz from Computerworld and PC World magazines. They named our question one of the Funniest YouTube Questions for Candidates.
… as CNN culls through the videos to choose questions for its July 23 debate, it’s also finding that some questioners are using humor — in many cases, quite well — to get their points across.
[snip]
10. #584
Jacob Soboroff asks: “Why do we vote on Tuesdays?”
The fact that the majority of the politicians we asked didn’t know why we vote on Tuesday is funny, but also a bummer, given that if they had any idea, they’d know how old and outdated the reason we vote on Tuesday is. That’s one of many problems with our broken election system that we’ll be exploring in the months ahead.
Saturday, July 28th, 2007
YouTube is asking users to submit videos critiquing candidate performances during last week’s debate in South Carolina. Some users are also critiquing the debate itself.
We submitted a response, too. It was filmed on location at the debate with CNN SVP David Bohrman, whose team selected the questions for the debate, and YouTube user MelissaJenna, who posed the only question about election reform used during the debate.
Wednesday, July 25th, 2007
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Here it is. Hot off the press. In the video: CNN’s Anderson Cooper and John King, Mike Gravel, Elizabeth Edwards, Obama advisor David Axelrod, Dennis Kucinich, Howard Dean and Chris Dodd. (more…) |
Monday, July 23rd, 2007
Being here at the Citadel in Charleston for the CNN/YouTube debate has been an amazing experience! The fact that our question wasn’t chosen shows how important it is that we continue this conversation about reforming the way (and maybe day) we vote.
Even though America ranks 139 out of 172 countries in the world in voter turnout, and more people vote for American Idol than the U.S. president, tonight there was only one question on election reform and one candidate given time to answer. Not to worry. I’m headed up to the spin room with my camera to get some real answers.
Here’s the question we wanted the candidates to answer tonight:
Check back here soon for my video report from Charleston. It may be a day or so. I’m headed back to Why Tuesday? global headquarters in NYC tomorrow morning.
Monday, July 23rd, 2007
Lots of laughs in the press filing center at the debate’s open. Chris Dodd is answering the first question.
No election reform question yet.
* 7:30 PM: Half an hour into the debate. Still no sign of any election reform questions.
* 8:12 PM: Over half way there and still no election reform question for the candidates.
* 8:30 PM: First election reform question! From Melissa in California:
Only New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was given time to answer this question before a commercial break. I’ll get the transcript ASAP.
* Richardson’s response: Here are Richardson’s comments on election reform (as transcribed by CNN), the only comments on the topic during the entire debate:
I, as president, I would push the whole country to verified paper trails. There are close to 10 states that do this.
(APPLAUSE)
My state a year ago, my state was one of those states, along with Florida and Ohio, that, because of the touch-tones, there was uncertainty about the election.
We have close to 50 percent of those Americans eligible to vote voting. That is inexcusable, compared to many other nations. We need to have same-day registration. We need to have an effort to get the Republican Party to stop suppressing minority voters. We need to find ways also to depoliticize the Justice Department that tried to find those voters that were legitimately voting.
Why Tuesday? believes election reform is a nonpartisan issue. In our upcoming online documentary series we’ll take a closer look at the kinds of reforms Governor Richardson proposed during the debate, and more. Again, we are non-political and universal in our advocacy; Why Tuesday? welcomes community and national leaders, voters and non-voters, young and old, and members of all political parties (or none).
Why Tuesday? is a non-partisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2005 to find solutions to increase voter turnout and participation in elections.
