Some of you have been asking me why it is we haven’t been getting more questionnaires in from candidates. There are a few reasons, but the main one is that they are getting inundated with questionnaires from interest groups and political organizations all over the place. I spoke with two District 6 candidates, Debra Walker and Theresa Sparks, on Saturday and both of them had at least 50+ questionnaires needing completion.
Also, it should be noted that most of these are to get an endorsement from an organization that can be used this Fall. Unlike these groups, the Muni Rider Voter Guide isn’t doing any endorsements for anyone – instead we’re just providing information on one topic (transit) for you, the voter to review. And, unlike other questionnaires, we’re avoiding ones designed to embarass people or force them into positions that they don’t want. Other questionnaires also often employ questions that are of the “when did you stop beating up baby seals with a club” type.
Here’s an old article that I saved in my archives that’s now online that talks more about the process. It dates back to 1998, but most of it still holds true about this annual right of campaign craziness, and is worth reading.
One other thing we’re learning is that my generous deadline may have pushed us too far to the back with some folks, who have other forms to fill out sooner than our deadline of September 7th. We’ll learn from this, and more so we can keep on doing this in 2011 and 2012.
