Gather To Launch Extended US Presidential Debate
12/06/2007, 9 months ago
We here at Profy first profiled Gather.com - a social networking site geared to provide a meeting place of sorts (hence the title) for above-average intellectual discussion (as opposed to the mostly idiocratic MySpace and so forth) - in November of 2006. The following February we delved in a bit deeper, spotlighting the site’s establishment of Essentials, a selection of channels comprised of expert sources of information for books, music, health, money, and so on.
And in September, we brought you word of Gather’s launch of a political discussion forum, dubbed Election 2008, which has since grown to be a strong magnet for conversation. In fact, in just a few months, the chatter has grown to be so significant that it has led the site’s operators to arrange an online presidential debate with any candidates inclined to participate. So far, three contenders have signed on as willing to field network members’ questions: Christopher Dodd (D), Dennis Kucinich (D), and Ron Paul (Rep).
Though the present list lacks the biggest players in the race – apart from Ron Paul, who, however unlikely he is to last long past the new year, is quite an effective voice with the collegiate crowd in the US and one which many enjoy rallying around – the discussion to ensue, starting Monday, December 10th, is one which may well provoke a somewhat resounding impact. The debate’s success more or less hinges on the content of the conversation.
The debate will not be a short one. It will not be condensed into an hour’s time. Instead, Gather’s administrators have chosen to heed demand and extend the chitchat by several weeks.
Site members have so far submitted a wealth of questions, and Gather has chosen to put forward one per week for the candidates to answer. The organizers of the debate imagine that by providing such a lengthy window of opportunity, a good deal of back-and-forth will ensue. And they’re likely correct to presume so.
Never before have candidates been given the chance to formulate responses within spaces longer than, say, 30 seconds; it’ll be interesting to see how this experiment turns out. It’s certainly doubtful that Gather will amass an audience equal to that of the CNN-YouTube events held for the countries dominant parties thus far, but if company’s PR machine is in top shape, the debate’s reach may extend further than many might expect.
What do you expect from the Gather debate? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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“from Ron Paul, who, however unlikely he is to last long past the new year…”
Pfft. He’ll probably last longer than profy.com
Jeff,
I recommend you offer a more reasoned response.
That line above was not a hit at Ron Paul. I myself agree with much of message the man delivers. But it'd be foolish to think that anyone other than the financially "loaded" in this race (the top 4-6) will have a shot next year. That's been the case for the past couple of decades or more. One would be naive to think the same will not be the case in '08. It'd be nice to think this a truly democratic and meritocratic society we live in here in the US. But it is neither of those things. Unfortunately.
By 2008, Ron Paul will likely have a $20 Million warchest, and has a good chance at getting 3rd in Iowa, and even better in NH and Nevada.
Umm, you think Ron Paul is not “financially ‘loaded’”?
You must not follow the news. There was $4.3 million dropped on him in one day, and now his campaign is nearing $11 million for the 4th quarter with over 3 weeks left. And there’s another $6-8 million expected to be dropped on December 16th. He may pull in more than Hillary for the quarter, counting primary funds only. He will certainly beat out all of the Republican nominees in this quarter.
Ron Paul will outlast the energizer bunny.
Paul, Jeremiah,
The record-setting one-day $4.3 million infusion into the Ron Paul campaign was certainly impressive. It bodes well for honest political discourse in the US when a noisemaker/whistleblower such as Mr Paul makes the media recognize his following in a language they understand (financing).
Ron Paul kind of reminds me of Ralph Nader, except the former has considerably more general support. (Which I attribute to Paul’s affiliation with one of the two major parties, rather than Nader’s idealistic and individualistic method. If Nader were to pick one of two “evils”, as he would likely have phrased them, he’d probably have gotten quite a few more votes going into the primaries. By the way, please don’t anyone bother blabbing on about Nader having stolen the election for Bush. That stuff is absolute garbage, and anyone who has closely looked at the facts of the 2000 and 2004 elections will see that that is so.)
Lastly, I seriously do hope Senator Clinton (Gotta get the nation to stop calling her Hillary. She’s Clinton through and through.) DOES NOT get the Democratic nom. I mean, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton? Really? Everyone looking forward to that?
Barack needs to get his [bleeping] act together and start telling it like it is. No more high minded crap. High minded, intelligent discussion is important, but Americans are thoroughly simplistic people. He needs to start speaking the way the majority understands. And though the optimism of a black president is very tangible around the nation, some very nasty talk is going to start coming to the surface in that respect come early 2008. The country is far from over its problem with racism. And better to start dealing with it now rather than later. People don’t want to talk about it, but Obama supporters are going to have to if they want to prevent Republicans with a third term in the executive branch.
Oh, just to add to that last bit about Barack:
I fear that because Barack has had to be pushed by his supporters to get on the attack, he won’t be within close reach of the nomination. He should have begun the tough talk (or whatever the heck you want to call it) on his own volition. That would’ve shown initiative and courage and all that great stuff. Right now it kind of seems like he’s had the gloves forced off his hands, rather than having taken them off himself.
Thanks for letting us know, Paul!
I must say when I first read “a social networking site geared to provide a meeting place of sorts (hence the title) for above-average intellectual discussion” and “presidential debate” in one sentence, I had to do a double-take.
But then you say “(as opposed to the mostly idiocratic MySpace and so forth” - oh, I see. Although I wouldn’t quite say that anything that’s better than “idiocratic” (idiotic?) discussions on MySpace would qualify as above-average intellectual discussion.
Be that as it may, the fact that this is a LONGER discussion makes me tentatively hopeful.