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Suggestions for Debate Questions/Topics


NorthSideSox72

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If you have any ideas on questions or topics you'd like to see debated by the fine candidates here on SoxTalk, feel free to add them here. The moderators of the debates (Soxy and SS2K5) will try to pick a variety of questions from posters, candidates and themselves. They will also try to pick questions that not everyone has the same opinion on (see how handy the platforms were?). But the debate will be less formal and smaller in scale than the ones from earlier this year, so not nearly all of the suggestions will be used...

 

So, feel free to add any suggestions here!

 

Mine:

 

--If it were up to you, what would be your exit/completion/victory strategy in Iraq?

--In what areas do you think the federal government needs to increase spending, if any? Please defend that spending and also tell us where the money might come from.

--How would you go about fixing the corruption and self-interest in Congress?

--Some question on energy policy (not sure how to phrase it, some already answered here)

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I trust Soxy will have the education issues covered, so I'd like to see the environment covered by the candidates. Here's my "essay" question, followed by several other teasers that I'd like the candidates to consider.

 

Prior to the GWB admministration, conservation issues were not decided along partisan lines. The presidencies of Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and JFK all witnessed great waves of conservation and environmental stewardship in this country. It was Richard Nixon who declared that the 1970s to be the "environmental decade," brought the EPA into existence and and approved laws to protect this country's air, water, and endangered species. The GWB administration, in contrast, has worked hard at rolling back environmental regulations, politicizing the scientific process in regards to the environment, and has essentially cut the EPA and environmental scientists at NASA, NOAA, and elsewhere off at the knees.

 

What are your specific plans for putting the country back on a positive conservation path? What Bush era environmental rollbacks, if any, will you and Congress address during your presidency? What will be your strategic priorities in terms of protecting our environment?

 

Teasers - take 'em. leave 'em, modifry them at will:

 

1) How much of a threat do you think global warming is? How do you propose to address it?

 

2) What is your position on GMOs?

 

3) Will the US under your leadership sign onto the Convention on Biological Diversity, or will we continue to side with the likes of Iraq in our own litte Axis of Environmental Evil?

 

4) What is your position on ANWR drilling?

 

5) How would you approach the need to balance free trade and corporate profits versus protecting the intelectual property of sovereign nations from the threat of "biopiracy" as western industrial entities continue to exploit global biological and genetic diversity?

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What is your stance on the continuation of the War on Drugs?

 

What is your stance on the placement of marijuana as a Schedule I drug? Should it be legalized? If so, how?

 

As a teacher, I'm really interested in this one. What is your stance on standardized testing across the boards for schools as seen in No Child Left Behind? Do you think that there are alternatives to NCLB that would be better? If so, what?

 

What is your stance on initiatives like Safe Games Illinois where legislators attempt to censor video games, music and movies?

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Have you ever smoked marijuana?

Some people wouldn't trust a candidate that has never smoked marijuana. If you haven't smoked pot before, how would you soothe their concern about you? Will you toke for votes?

Whose side did you take when Van Halen split up?

Do you believe in hate crime legislation?

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I have a suggestion, although it doesn't concern a particular question. It concerns the manner in which this debate is conducted.

 

Here's what I think -- hold it in the chatroom. Not as if anything else is going on within the world of White Sox baseball. Everyone interested can watch as the candidates respond to questions immediately. Let them feel the pressure (if you can call it that), opposed to the lax conditions posting on a message board present. Soxy and SS2k4 can still moderate. They can even use one of the various chatroom sounds to indicate when a candidate's time is up. You know, mimicking the conditions of a true debate. :D

 

Picture this -- ELECTION NIGHT December 10, 2006. 7-8pm in the chatroom. It'll be delicious.

Edited by Flash Tizzle
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QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Nov 22, 2006 -> 08:29 PM)
I have a suggestion, although it doesn't concern a particular question. It concerns the manner in which this debate is conducted.

 

Here's what I think -- hold it in the chatroom. Not as if anything else is going on within the world of White Sox baseball. Everyone interested can watch as the candidates respond to questions immediately. Let them feel the pressure (if you can call it that), opposed to the lax conditions posting on a message board present. Soxy and SS2k4 can still moderate. They can even use one of the various chatroom sounds to indicate when a candidate's time is up. You know, mimicking the conditions of a true debate. :D

 

Picture this -- ELECTION NIGHT December 10, 2006. 7-8pm in the chatroom. It'll be delicious.

Good suggestion, and I'd participate. But, there are some downfalls of the chat system. For one, if you miss it, its all over - I don't think those conversations are archived anywhere (tell me if I'm wrong). Therefore, if you miss it at the appointed time, you miss it entirely. Also, it may be really, really tough to find a time when everyone running, plus some of the "electorate", would be able to participate.

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It's not easy, especially at night when a lot of us want to be away from the PC. Hehe.

 

:)

 

We can probably somehow do it in a thread.

 

BTW, I didn't get to join, I'm just too swamped. But I really like this, and you all are awesome who have thrown your hat in. (HEHE, no endorsement in this post... :P )

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DEBATE FORMAT:

 

After discussions with SS2K5 and Soxy, here is how the Debate will work...

 

--There will be 4 threads opened - 2 by Soxy, 2 by SS2K5.

--Each thread contains one question/topic/issue, and is for the discussion of just that issue, by the candidates.

--The questions were taken from some combination of suggestions in this thread, and their own warped minds. :D

--Each candidate can make one initial position post in each thread, of NO MORE THAN 500 words.

--Each candidate also gets to respond to ONE other candidate's post IN EACH of those threads, with the same 500 word limit.

--The candidate who was responded to then gets ONE MORE POST to retort (to each response/question, so that may be more than once in the same thread), again, limit 500 words.

--The threads will remain open until Sunday night late, at which time I will close them (the election is Tuesday). This should give people 5 or 6 days, which should be plenty of time.

--Soxy and SS2K5 will moderate and ensure that everyone stays in the rules set out here. If you get out of line, you'll have to deal with them.

--Any discussion that people (non-candidates and candidates alike) want to have regarding the debates can use this thread.

--ONLY CANDIDATES SHOULD POST IN THE ACTUAL DEBATE THREADS.

--And finally, to dispel any sort of rumors to the contrary, I do not have any idea what the topics of debate will be.

 

Hopefully, these rules will keep the debates under control and not too long, so that everyone can see clearly people's views. The new threads should appear soon.

 

Good luck to all!

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QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 28, 2006 -> 01:24 PM)
DEBATE FORMAT:

 

After discussions with SS2K5 and Soxy, here is how the Debate will work...

 

--There will be 4 threads opened - 2 by Soxy, 2 by SS2K5.

--Each thread contains one question/topic/issue, and is for the discussion of just that issue, by the candidates.

--The questions were taken from some combination of suggestions in this thread, and their own warped minds. :D

--Each candidate can make one initial position post in each thread, of NO MORE THAN 500 words.

--Each candidate also gets to respond to ONE other candidate's post IN EACH of those threads, with the same 500 word limit.

--The candidate who was responded to then gets ONE MORE POST to retort (to each response/question, so that may be more than once in the same thread), again, limit 500 words.

--The threads will remain open until Sunday night late, at which time I will close them (the election is Tuesday). This should give people 5 or 6 days, which should be plenty of time.

--Soxy and SS2K5 will moderate and ensure that everyone stays in the rules set out here. If you get out of line, you'll have to deal with them.

--Any discussion that people (non-candidates and candidates alike) want to have regarding the debates can use this thread.

--ONLY CANDIDATES SHOULD POST IN THE ACTUAL DEBATE THREADS.

--And finally, to dispel any sort of rumors to the contrary, I do not have any idea what the topics of debate will be.

 

Hopefully, these rules will keep the debates under control and not too long, so that everyone can see clearly people's views. The new threads should appear soon.

 

Good luck to all!

 

You might want to post this on the top of each debate question thread... so that way it stays clear of the riff raff.

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QUOTE(Soxy @ Nov 28, 2006 -> 11:45 AM)
My questions are up, and I think SS2k5's will be up soon too.

 

And, in my threads, I will be watching your word length. :)

 

Good luck to the candidates!

 

Because big words scare Soxy. ;)

 

Now, she might also be watching your word count, so keep it brief.

 

btw, thanks for tossing the environment question out there for the candidates to chew on. :cheers

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QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Nov 28, 2006 -> 01:01 PM)
When are our answers le due?

As stated in the debate format post above, the threads will be closed late Sunday night, in whatever state they are in. There are no specific deadlines or dates for any of the individual items in the threads.

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