Re: Digest for Questiontime-usa@googlegroups.com - 3 Messages in 1 Topic

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Ralph Benko

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Feb 21, 2010, 8:33:15 AM2/21/10
to question...@googlegroups.com
We Republicans are too preoccupied with resistance actions against the Ruling Junta -- to preserve, protect, and defend the People's constitutional rights -- to fill out surveys now.  Once we have toppled the Ruling Junta and restored a (small r) republican order that respects human rights and dignity, and the legitimate aspirations of our peoples, assuredly we will regain our native conviviality.  Soon!

Ralph Benko
www.thewebstersdictionary.com

On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 2:35 AM, <Questiontime...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Group: http://groups.google.com/group/Questiontime-usa/topics

    Micah Sifry <msi...@gmail.com> Feb 20 09:57PM -0500 ^
     
    All:
     
    Here's a draft blog post reporting on the survey we launched last Wednesday.
    We had something like a 35% open rate and 13% click through rate, which is
    really strong. More than 2300 people (out of 17571 emailed) took the survey.
    This is a very good sign of internal strength.
     
    Please give me any comments about the draft post. I'm planning to post it
    Sunday evening.
     
    Micah
    - - - - -
     
    Supporters of Demand Question Time are a very politically active,
    passionate, liberal-leaning group that is ready to push Washington in all
    kinds of creative ways to get the President and both parties talking to each
    other in a direct way. Those are the takeaways of the survey we did last
    week of the first 17,500 people to sign the Demand Question Time petition.
    Frankly, I've been blown away by how many people took the time to not only
    take the survey--2,338 responses and counting, a whopping 13.3% response
    rate--but also by the comments and suggestions people gave us. Not only have
    there been nearly 100 comments here on the blog, we got well over 2,000
    written responses to our questions about why people were supporting Question
    Time.
     
    In the interests of transparency, I'm pasting in the full survey report
    below. But here are the two major conclusions I think we should focus on:
     
    First, our little movement has some real muscle. Not only do we have the
    ability to get media attention for the Question Time idea, we have thousands
    of people who are ready to call their Members of Congress, write letters to
    the editor, get on the phone with supporters from a different political
    party to jointly call their elected representatives, and so on. That's a
    real vote of confidence in what we're doing and we're going to follow up
    soon with some calls to action along those lines:
     
    <blockquote>Call my representatives in Congress to ask them if they support
    Question Time: 72.71%
    Write a letter to the editor: 46.27%
    Get on the phone with another Question Time supporter from a different party
    than my own and then call our representatives together: 24.28%
    Donate money to pay for advertising: 20.66%
    Help spread the word by tabling or sign-holding/waving/posting: 19.04%
    Make an online video: 6.33%</blockquote>
     
    The second obvious highlight of the survey, and one that frankly surprised
    some of us on the steering committee, is how much the survey responses tilt
    towards the left. Asked what political party "you identify with,"
    respondents said:
     
    <blockquote>Democrat: 60.52%
    independent: 24.73%
    None of the above: 5.12%
    Republican: 4.34%
    Green: 2.02%
    Libertarian: 1.89%
    I'd rather not say: 1.38%
    </blockquote>
     
    Some of us think this could be just because the petition got early attention
    from the Huffington Post, a liberal site. Others think it may be because
    liberals supposedly prefer "kumbaya"-why-can't-we-all-get-along politics
    more than conservatives. And others think it's because conservatives may
    feel that the original, spontaneous Question Time session between President
    Obama and the House Republican caucus helped Obama more than the
    Republicans, and therefore are wary of making the encounter a regular event.
     
    We don't know whether any of these conclusions are right (and certainly
    don't mind you adding your two cents to the discussion), but whatever the
    reasons, we're convinced that Question Time won't succeed as a movement
    unless it flies with two wings, equally balanced. That's why our steering
    committee and core group of signers is evenly divided between right and left
    (with a smattering of uncategorizables). So, here's what we hope you will
    do:
     
    <strong>If you have a friend, a relative, a co-worker who is a Republican or
    a conservative or a rightwinger of any stripe, ask them to sign the Demand
    Question Time petition. Liberals, get in touch with that uncle who you
    usually never talk to at Thanksgiving. Conservatives, talk to your pals.
    Let's grow our base of support so we're balanced. If we want the President
    and the opposing party to engage in regular dialogue, we have to do it
    too.</strong>
     
    The full survey is below:
    1. How old are you?
    Summary Value Percent %
    18-29 31.66%
    50-64 25.48%
    30-39 18.23%
    40-49 12.27%
    65 and up 11.15%
    Under 18 0.99%
    I'd rather not say 0.21%
     
    2. If you identify with a political party, are you:
    Summary Value Percent %
    Democrat 60.52%
    independent 24.73%
    None of the above 5.12%
    Republican 4.34%
    Green 2.02%
    Libertarian 1.89%
    I'd rather not say 1.38%
     
    3. Check which political labels describe you best (you may choose more than
    one):
    Summary Value Percent %
    liberal 55.67%
    progressive 54.51%
    moderate 30.22%
    independent 25.97%
    libertarian 13.84%
    populist 8.90%
    conservative 7.48%
    apolitical 1.98%
    tea party 1.93%
    I'd rather not say 0.69%
     
    4. Are you registered to vote?
    Summary Value Percent %
    Yes 96.69%
    No 2.61%
    I'd rather not say 0.48%
    Don't know 0.22%
     
    5. Did you vote in the 2008 election?
    Summary Value Percent %
    Yes 93.58%
    No 5.99%
    I'd rather not say 0.43%
     
    6. Are you planning to vote in the 2010 election?
    Summary Value Percent %
    Yes 93.50%
    Don't know 4.09%
    No 2.07%
    I'd rather not say 0.34%
     
    7. Which, if any, of the following activities are you interested in taking
    in support of Question Time? (Check as many as apply.)
    Summary Value Percent %
    Call my representatives in Congress to ask them if they support Question
    Time 72.71%
    Write a letter to the editor 46.27%
    Get on the phone with another Question Time supporter from a different party
    than my own and then call our representatives together 24.28%
    Donate money to pay for advertising 20.66%
    Help spread the word by tabling or sign-holding/waving/posting 19.04%
    Make an online video 6.33%
     
    --
    http://www.personaldemocracy.com
    http://www.techpresident.com
    http://micah.sifry.com
    http://www.twitter.com/mlsif

     

    "Jon Henke" <jonh...@gmail.com> Feb 21 03:03AM ^
     
    Looks good.
     
    _________
    Jon Henke
     
     
    -----Original Message-----
    From: Micah Sifry <msi...@gmail.com>
    Date: Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:57:18
    To: QuestionTime USA<question...@googlegroups.com>
    Subject: draft blog post reporting on survey
     
    All:
     
    Here's a draft blog post reporting on the survey we launched last Wednesday.
    We had something like a 35% open rate and 13% click through rate, which is
    really strong. More than 2300 people (out of 17571 emailed) took the survey.
    This is a very good sign of internal strength.
     
    Please give me any comments about the draft post. I'm planning to post it
    Sunday evening.
     
    Micah
    - - - - -
     
    Supporters of Demand Question Time are a very politically active,
    passionate, liberal-leaning group that is ready to push Washington in all
    kinds of creative ways to get the President and both parties talking to each
    other in a direct way. Those are the takeaways of the survey we did last
    week of the first 17,500 people to sign the Demand Question Time petition.
    Frankly, I've been blown away by how many people took the time to not only
    take the survey--2,338 responses and counting, a whopping 13.3% response
    rate--but also by the comments and suggestions people gave us. Not only have
    there been nearly 100 comments here on the blog, we got well over 2,000
    written responses to our questions about why people were supporting Question
    Time.
     
    In the interests of transparency, I'm pasting in the full survey report
    below. But here are the two major conclusions I think we should focus on:
     
    First, our little movement has some real muscle. Not only do we have the
    ability to get media attention for the Question Time idea, we have thousands
    of people who are ready to call their Members of Congress, write letters to
    the editor, get on the phone with supporters from a different political
    party to jointly call their elected representatives, and so on. That's a
    real vote of confidence in what we're doing and we're going to follow up
    soon with some calls to action along those lines:
     
    <blockquote>Call my representatives in Congress to ask them if they support
    Question Time: 72.71%
    Write a letter to the editor: 46.27%
    Get on the phone with another Question Time supporter from a different party
    than my own and then call our representatives together: 24.28%
    Donate money to pay for advertising: 20.66%
    Help spread the word by tabling or sign-holding/waving/posting: 19.04%
    Make an online video: 6.33%</blockquote>
     
    The second obvious highlight of the survey, and one that frankly surprised
    some of us on the steering committee, is how much the survey responses tilt
    towards the left. Asked what political party "you identify with,"
    respondents said:
     
    <blockquote>Democrat: 60.52%
    independent: 24.73%
    None of the above: 5.12%
    Republican: 4.34%
    Green: 2.02%
    Libertarian: 1.89%
    I'd rather not say: 1.38%
    </blockquote>
     
    Some of us think this could be just because the petition got early attention
    from the Huffington Post, a liberal site. Others think it may be because
    liberals supposedly prefer "kumbaya"-why-can't-we-all-get-along politics
    more than conservatives. And others think it's because conservatives may
    feel that the original, spontaneous Question Time session between President
    Obama and the House Republican caucus helped Obama more than the
    Republicans, and therefore are wary of making the encounter a regular event.
     
    We don't know whether any of these conclusions are right (and certainly
    don't mind you adding your two cents to the discussion), but whatever the
    reasons, we're convinced that Question Time won't succeed as a movement
    unless it flies with two wings, equally balanced. That's why our steering
    committee and core group of signers is evenly divided between right and left
    (with a smattering of uncategorizables). So, here's what we hope you will
    do:
     
    <strong>If you have a friend, a relative, a co-worker who is a Republican or
    a conservative or a rightwinger of any stripe, ask them to sign the Demand
    Question Time petition. Liberals, get in touch with that uncle who you
    usually never talk to at Thanksgiving. Conservatives, talk to your pals.
    Let's grow our base of support so we're balanced. If we want the President
    and the opposing party to engage in regular dialogue, we have to do it
    too.</strong>
     
    The full survey is below:
    1. How old are you?
    Summary Value Percent %
    18-29 31.66%
    50-64 25.48%
    30-39 18.23%
    40-49 12.27%
    65 and up 11.15%
    Under 18 0.99%
    I'd rather not say 0.21%
     
    2. If you identify with a political party, are you:
    Summary Value Percent %
    Democrat 60.52%
    independent 24.73%
    None of the above 5.12%
    Republican 4.34%
    Green 2.02%
    Libertarian 1.89%
    I'd rather not say 1.38%
     
    3. Check which political labels describe you best (you may choose more than
    one):
    Summary Value Percent %
    liberal 55.67%
    progressive 54.51%
    moderate 30.22%
    independent 25.97%
    libertarian 13.84%
    populist 8.90%
    conservative 7.48%
    apolitical 1.98%
    tea party 1.93%
    I'd rather not say 0.69%
     
    4. Are you registered to vote?
    Summary Value Percent %
    Yes 96.69%
    No 2.61%
    I'd rather not say 0.48%
    Don't know 0.22%
     
    5. Did you vote in the 2008 election?
    Summary Value Percent %
    Yes 93.58%
    No 5.99%
    I'd rather not say 0.43%
     
    6. Are you planning to vote in the 2010 election?
    Summary Value Percent %
    Yes 93.50%
    Don't know 4.09%
    No 2.07%
    I'd rather not say 0.34%
     
    7. Which, if any, of the following activities are you interested in taking
    in support of Question Time? (Check as many as apply.)
    Summary Value Percent %
    Call my representatives in Congress to ask them if they support Question
    Time 72.71%
    Write a letter to the editor 46.27%
    Get on the phone with another Question Time supporter from a different party
    than my own and then call our representatives together 24.28%
    Donate money to pay for advertising 20.66%
    Help spread the word by tabling or sign-holding/waving/posting 19.04%
    Make an online video 6.33%
     
    --
    http://www.personaldemocracy.com
    http://www.techpresident.com
    http://micah.sifry.com
    http://www.twitter.com/mlsif

     

    David Corn <da...@aol.com> Feb 20 11:33PM -0500 ^
     
    I agree. Thanks, Micah.
     
    David Corn
    Office: 202-347-7958
    Cell: 301-379-3282
    Washington bureau chief
    Mother Jones
    Winner of the 2008 National Magazine Award for General Excellence
     

     


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