DU questions to the DNC candidates

[paineinthearse]

Despite the blizzard, I will be participating in a conference call tonight with all the DNC chair candidates.

I can submit a question(s) during the day that will be asked to a particular candidate or to the entire panel.

Please give this some consideration and post your questions here. I'll convey to the call conference call organizers, take notes or get a transcript and report back late tonight.

[NMDemDist2]

1. how will they "reframe" the message to voters that Dems are

family friendly?

also, how will they mimic the RW in getting us all to pound the same talking point over and over?

[eg101]

2. 18,000 Americans die yearly because we have no universal healthcare.

As DNC chair, what will you do about it? 18,000 every year die because America does not have universal healthcare, although almost every other western nation does have it. And America supposedly the richest nation in the world....

Because America does not have universal healthcare, 18,000 every year--6 times as many as died on Sept 11. Every year.

As DNC chair, give one reason why "universal healthcare" should not be the first and last thing you say everytime you get in front of a TV camera.

Given the extent of loss of life (18K deaths per year) due to our politicians' failure to institute universal healthcare, as DNC chair, what are you going to do to help bring to justice all the politicians, past and present, who have so far failed to institute universal healthcare in America? Do you promise to try them for this criminal negligence? Why not?

[DaedelusNemo]

11. "Universal", "affordable"

Do you mean a full socialization of medicine, or just trying to ensure its universal availability - that is, affordability?

I'd suggest including in your question a mention of the fact that Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of universal access to health care. It's not just an obligation in principle (a point possibly not so compelling to some) it's also a very large political opportunity.

[paineinthearse]

3. 24 hour reprieve

My calendar was wrong. Event is Sunday night....

[justiceischeap]

4. I'd like to know

Why they don't choose and groom a candidate sooner. Get the candidate on message and in the public so people get to know him or her before 2007.

[Eloriel]

12. Um, THEY don't -- or rather aren't supposed to -- CHOOSE our

candidate. In reality, they actually do by manipulating events on the ground (dirty tricks by the candidates and backroom deals which some in the DNC are perfectly okay with if not in full approval of) as well as the timing of various primaries (front-loading so Iowa and to a lesser extent NH select the candidate).

So it's really just an illusion that The People choose the candidate, judging from this most recent primary. You might ask them instead if they plan to change that.

Howard Dean will, I can promise you that.

[DaedelusNemo]

13. Would like to see them get to work very quick, though

I prefer a buildup through 2005 to try to prepare ground for 2006 and beyond. A dramatic to-the-grassroots move, such as Dean as DNC chair combined with a public policy forum of citizens, could give the Democrats a way to rebrand themselves pretty quickly.

[DaedelusNemo]

5. How will he give a voice back to the people and representation back to

this country?

Will he commit to moving politics into the internet age by founding a Democratic party forum online, to be free to the public, and to have the participation of Democratic leadership; to better inform both the public, and their representatives, and allow for a sustained deliberation of the issues?

[DaedelusNemo]

6. Will they commit the party to a sustained fight for electoral reform?

Regardless of who won or lost, voting machines that leave no evidence are absolutely unacceptable, and they invite abuse of the very worst kind. Americans demand to know beyond any reasonable doubt that their vote is counted and should settle for no less. If the Republicans resist this most fundamental reform of democracy, it should be the defining issue of American politics thenceforth.

Will they commit the party to a sustained fight for electoral reform?

[EFerrari]

7. How does the candidate intend to repair our broken infrastructure?

After the nationals are over, the DNC packs up and goes home. (Or, they never unpack as in CA this last time.) This sounds like whining, I know, but our whole network suffers from a lack of continuity even though as the last election demonstrated, we have no lack of volunteers. How might the candidate address this problem.

[DaedelusNemo]

8. Will he push the party to develop attractive alternatives

to upcoming Republican policy proposals, or will he wait to discover what box the Republicans have dreamed up for the Democratic party to sit in this year? Bringing forward a proposal that the people want to see enacted is surely the best way to engender a critical evaluation of the other proposals.

Americans by large majorities, throughout blue and red states alike, want their social security guaranteed, they want the minimum wage raised so that you can get ahead by your hard work, they want health care and education to be affordable for everybody, and they want fair trade and corporate accountability. These are long-standing liberal ideals, and they are the consensus of the American people. They will have to hear a plausible plan to make it happen, but that is all they are waiting for.

- And the Democrats have, right now, a historic opportunity to be bold. They no longer have any fragile toehold on power to cling to, and are therefore forced to push ahead to a new strength; and they have the gift of an opposition that is fundamentally at odds with what the people want.

[DaedelusNemo]

9. What are you going to do to put up an effective fight in the media?

Will you develop an effective rapid-response team that will counter Republican lies before they become the common wisdom? Will you develop a coherent policy narrative clearly based on common values? Will you let the public know that they in fact overwhelmingly prefer the Democratic position on most issues to the Republican position? Will you brand Republicans with their habit of substituting labels for substance?

[DaedelusNemo]

10. Will they hold firm to the longstanding American consensus on taxes

that labor should never be taxed more than wealth? That the basic hard work that creates the new wealth should be encouraged more, not less, than capital gains, or any other secondary development fueled by labor?

[paineinthearse]

14. The blizzard did us in.

If I have another opportunity, I will submit your questions.

Sorry, 2-3 feet of snow does put a damper on things.

[DaedelusNemo]

15. Alas /nt

[Liberty Belle]

16. Will they take a strong stance for the environment

by standing up against big corporations and imposing tougher laws? We need to crack down on those who pollute the air and water, since asthma rates are up 70% from air pollution and mercury poisoning from water pollution is approaching epidemic proportions, according to medical experts. Also, we should take steps to halt global warming, which Britain's top scientist believes is a greater threat to our security than terrorism.