Candidates agree to online forum

The four candidates who are running for the Wisconsin Assembly in the 54th District have agreed to engage in an innovative online forum that will allow them to debate the issues in cyberspace.

The forum is sponsored by the Oshkosh Community News Network, the Oshkosh League of Women Voters and the Oshkosh Public Library and will be accessible from the OCNN Web site, Oshkosh News, and from the library’s Web site.

The four participants in the forum are independent Dan Carpenter, Democrat Gordon Hintz, Wisconsin Green Tony Palmeri and Republican incumbent Gregg Underheim.

The forum will be conducted using a Web log and will function for approximately four weeks, from mid-September to mid-October. A parallel Web log will also be established where citizens will be able to post their comments about the debate. This will be an added benefit to candidates since they will be able to learn in real time how voters are thinking about and reacting to the issues.

The site will remain available through Election Day, so that voters will have access to this information as they decide how to cast their votes.

The sponsors of this project believe that it will provide a number of benefits, including the following:

• First, the Web log will be available at all times so that citizens who are unable to attend a debate in person or watch it on replay can use the online forum to learn about candidates. Citizens who have not paid a lot of attention to the campaign will be able to consult the Web forum as Election Day approaches to help them make up their minds.

• Second, because it depends upon written answers, the online forum will allow and even encourage candidates to take a longer time to think about their responses. Candidates need not worry about being cut short—they can write as much as they want.

• The interactive format of the forum will also make it easier for candidates to respond to other candidates, offering rebuttals or clarifications as necessary. Candidates can also use hyperlinks to draw citizens’ attention to additional research and information.

• Finally, at a time when national studies show that television and print publications are losing audience share, the use of the Internet presents an opportunity to engage with potential voters, particularly younger ones, who might not otherwise have an effective way to learn about candidates and their positions.

While the League will oversee the process of posting questions, it is not responsible for setting the agenda of the forum. All citizens are invited to provide input, and questions will be solicited from throughout the community.