Whew!

I want to take a moment to formally thank both excellent candidates for their generosity in joining us tonight. Congratulations! You have made it through the BlueNC wringer with amazing grace. I also want to thank Betsy Muse, Linda Cloud, Jerimee and others for all their support and hard work in making this event possible.

And finally, here's to our great community members for bringing charm, wit and tough questions to the table. That went by really fast.

What do you think?

Comments

nice graphic

you make that yourself? or did you cheat and get someone to do it for you? tell the truth.

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http://twitter.com/Jerimee

I made it

Though I bought the mop itself as a stock photo.

Breakneck snail's pace.

The hour flew by but where did all that time go?

It's apparent that lots of folks have important concerns and the candidates would be wise (and really nice) to look the other questions over and come back later with some answers.

I've been really sweating

I think it went reasonably well, but it's really clear that this form of government we have can get awfully messy, especially when it's running on internet time.

I thought it went very well.

Especially for the first event of its kind.

I had to sit on my hands a few times - I wanted to push them to answer a few questions that slipped past them as if they weren't there, but I didn't want to ruin things.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi
Pointing at Naked Emperors

Thanks, James and Betsy and BlueNC

Well, it was a first, anyway. :) And *thank you* to BlueNC for trying this out!

I wish the candidates had interacted more - it was more like two parallel "Meet" forums than a debate. But, in fairness to both, it was a struggle to stay on top of the questions rolling in on each thread. Trying to respond to what was happening at her/his opponent's thread as well would've been quite a trick.

As loftT mentioned, I hope the candidates come back with some answers to the many questions they didn't have time to get to. There were lots of them, and mostly controversial, too. Coincidence?

Laura Leslie
(Barkeep, Isaac Hunter's Tavern)

Laura Leslie
blogger/reporter for WRAL @NCCapitol
Former Barkeep of Isaac Hunter's Tavern

Thanks Laura

Glad you could join us.

Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.

***************************
Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.

We'll see

We knew there would be WAY more questions than answers ... but you're right. What happens over the days ahead will really tell the tale about who's getting with it in the online world.

Thanks for your comments. Ten years from now, cross-thread arguments will be standard practice. It's a bit trickier when we're all breaking new ground.

And boy is that ground broken!

Exciting to be part of real democracy like that -

The People's Debate. Though it wasn't really a debate, but a Q&A. It was really cool, though.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi
Pointing at Naked Emperors

The candidates knew that they could pose questions to each othe

(I think we made that clear....) This is all new and it may take a time or two to figure out how to get the rebuttal/candidate question process worked out.

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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.

The long tail

I'm hoping the "hour" was just the tip of the iceberg. Right now the campaigns take on one another by sending out emails and press releases to the Dome and other journalists.

Why not mix it up right here and cut out the middle man?

Hey now

I've got a mortgage to pay... Let's keep the middle man in business, just in case.

— RTB

Heh.

Very funny.

Great job guys!

It was different -- and fun. I have to say I think Bev scored with that picture. Smart move. If only Richard had instantly countered with one of himself wearing a baseball cap on backward, baggy shorts and a few hours shadow on his jaw . . . . dang these missed opportunities!

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
-Edmund Burke

Congratulations

We can talk later about how we can make future debates like this one better, but I hope everyone, namely James, Betsy, Jerimee and others who were instrumental and getting this off the ground, takes a moment to celebrate this huge accomplishment. Congratulations!

And my question got asked (which, by the way, elicited far much excitement than I may have anticipated)!

I think I was leaning towards one candidate anyway, but open to changing my mind, but I think tonight's discussion cemented my support for my initial choice.

But now that that's done, I can return to yelling at the Carolina women on my TV.

----
There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the security of the comfortable past which, in fact, never existed. - Robert F. Kennedy

I think I'll just say.....

Ditto.

One of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn't have to understand something to feel it. - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me

Robert!

I never figured you for a ditto-head!

Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi
Pointing at Naked Emperors

It was a great question

Holy Moly

And broken ground. More, please much more!

This was very well run as only the fp gang knows how. Thank you guys, perhaps more politicians can see the benefit of this medium. Maybe more voters will become aware too.

No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.

Progressive Discussions

OMG I think James shot Ole Yeller

Aww James! We were going to HELP him!

Anyway, I hope Ole Yeller will return and post his questions (ok, challenges) on another thread, as you suggested.

I was interested in seeing where that went.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
-Edmund Burke

I do too, actually.

I didn't have any objection to the ranting, just to his doing it on Richard's thread. This is the place for his comments.

PS Seriously, Yeller, you're more than welcome to post your anti-government ravings on this thread.

Live Debates

I think it's great that we are using a new form of technology, enabling citizens to become more personally involved in the political process. However, I would like to point out that, although one of the candidates had a staffer take a pic of her sitting at a computer, we have no idea who really answered these questions.

Even in your original thread, BlueNC told both campaigns that they were allowed to use pre-packaged responses or staffer assistance. Though I was hoping to learn more about each candidates true character, intelligence and vision for our state, this debate showed me about as much as the press releases and mailers that their campaigns send out.

I would like to see Perdue agree to several live televised debates - not forums - DEBATES with real dialogue, rebuttals... opportunities for each candidate to have a frank and thorough discussion on the issues; where they have no choice but to respond and follow up in their own voices instead of reciting campaign talking points. Look at the presidential primary - the candidates have debated numerous times and those discussions have helped voters make an educated personal choice between two inspiring leaders.

Perhaps BlueNC could invest in some videoconferencing technology and make this a reality?!?

But overall, thanks for making history and taking the democratic process to a new level of grassroots involvement. It's a historic night for BlueNC!!

Thank you for chiming in

We are going to build on this experience. I prepared myself for an all-out brawl and was allllmost disappointed that it didn't happen. Almost. I know we can continue to make our debates, live-blog threads easier to access/use and more informative. It's new to us and new to the candidates. We will certainly keep working to improve on this.

Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.

***************************
Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.

The technology already exists.

kyte.tv allows for live-streaming and there are other sites where bloggers "debate" live (can't find the pesky link right now).

One of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn't have to understand something to feel it. - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me

I wanted to thank Betsy

for posting my question on both threads. I know I can be a jerk sometimes, but it sure is nice to be remembered.

Thank you, sweetie. :)

I have never known you to be a jerk

Not once....ever. :D

Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.

***************************
Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.

Okay...

First, BlueNC, James, Betsy, et al, great job putting this together, keeping it running smoothly, and now cleaning up after. This was not only historic, but I think sets a precedent that makes BlueNC the premiere place for progressive politics in NC (as if it wasn't already).

That said, I found the candidates performances neither informative or riveting. They both seemed to be very careful in their answers and loathe to really interact, which was very unfortunate.

However, they should be given some slack on this for two reasons: a)it was a first and b)the race is so freaking close that it was the smart tack.

Finally, even though I am a Moore supporter, if I had to pick who did better, the edge would go to Perdue. The picture was a nice touch and it seemed to me like she answered more questions. As far as the issues themselves, it would be a push; nothing new.

Those are my thoughts. Have at me as you will!

I pretty much agree

except I felt the candidates were about even. The only reason was because both had one answer that had me saying, "absolutely!"

I would have loved full contact debating, but with the release of the recent poll I knew we weren't going to get anything like that. Another reason for them to hold back is because even with all the reassurances that we would police the threads, they had no way of knowing if or when someone might pull a "Gotcha" that we could miss. It didn't happen. I think what we showed is that BlueNC can handle the traffic an event like this brings in (it more than doubled our normal Monday traffic) and we can monitor questions for appropriateness. When more candidates feel it's safe to stick their necks out here, we'll see more of them dropping by.

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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.

Good observations

I think they're both in "risk averse" mode right now, though I thought the answers from both were generally clear and direct, though not surprising. Perdue has live-blogged before, which made probably made the scene more familiar for her. That said, Richard did a great job, too. I learned, for example, that he was not in favor of the lottery. I didn't know that.

They knew they were free to interact, but given that this must have felt like drinking from a fire hose, I can't imagine having time to even think about that. So to your point, I think they should be given lots of slack.

I'm going to have to go back and read through everything again to see what I missed, but all in all, I'm really happy how things went.

As one emailer said, this was a big day. We definitely moved the ball.

To carry the metaphor too far, I'm not arguing that we scored a touchdown, but we definitely picked up a few yards for democracy.

Big Milestone

I predict that this night on BlueNC will be considered a BIG milestone in the history of NC politics. Not just politics online but of political history itself! I hope that this event will encourage more candidates and elected officials to converse online with constituents.

To get an idea of what that future communication *might* look like read some of the conversations Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton has on OrangePolitics.org. When something happens locally more information is always better. Our elected officials can help reduce misunderstanding and inspire cooperation. The key is transparency. Be yourself online!

A big congratulations to James, Betsy, and everyone on BlueNC!

Thanks, Brian

Orange Politics is my first blogging home, where I saw what is really possible in open communications. If BlueNC could do for North Carolina what OP does for Orange County, I would be truly thrilled.

This says it all...

I'm not arguing that we scored a touchdown, but we definitely picked up a few yards for democracy.

Just got back in again and

Just got back in again and am thrilled that this went so well. I couldn't quite tell on first glance whether or not staff came back to answer the last few questions.

I don't think anyone giving you guys major props is exaggerating one bit.

Defining the new face of democracy, you are.
....Yoda

I was extremely disappointed that both candidates

failed to address the question(s) that Pam Spaulding originally posted, and that I posted on both candidates' debate threads. Even though I figured that they would skip them because anything to do with the LGBT community is risky, I still hoped one of them would have the guts to answer. I guess we'll just have to keep asking.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi
Pointing at Naked Emperors

At some point

the question will not be ignored.

***************************
Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.

when it comes to fundraising

...I'm sure Perdue and Moore won't turn down gay dollars.

Given one of the Republicans running for the job, Fred Smith, is the author of the state marriage amendment, for both Moore and Purdue to avoid the question is not only disappointing, it's not smart -- they are going to be asked it, and they might as well put distance between themselves and the stone-age NCGOP.

Trust me, Patrick McCrory also has a sorry rep in the LGBT community.

At least Easley had the stones to state his position in a public debate, sadly it was a willingness to sign away rights for a group of taxpayers in the Tar Heel State.

--
Pam Spaulding
Durham, NC USA

Pam's House Blend
www.pamshouseblend.com

--
Pam Spaulding
Durham, NC USA

Pam's House Blend
www.pamshouseblend.com