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House Candidate Lets Web Users Set His Schedule

Posted by michael on from the simcandidate dept.

brahn at actblue writes "From ABC News: Jeff Seemann, running for one of Ohio's seats in the House of Representatives, '...has an unusual approach in deciding how to spend his campaign. He asks Web surfers: Should he sleep in? Prepare for his debate? Campaign door to door?' (More coverage here and here.) Best of all: Jeff is fighting back against Diebold and their paperless voting machines -- and they're based in his district!"

23 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. I vote for by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sleep in, read slashot and surf for porn. I want someone that reflects my values.

  2. This is bound to work out well... by Skjie · · Score: 5, Funny

    Because letting bored internet users make plans for you is always a good idea.

    1. Re:This is bound to work out well... by TykeClone · · Score: 4, Funny
      Not sure how much land area his district covers, but I could see it resulting in being sceduled at the four corners of the district in the same day. In a populous state like Ohio, that's probably not a big deal - think of how funny it would be in Alaska (where the entire state is a single district).

      "Representive - I've got you scheduled for Juenau at 8am and Point Barrow at noon followed by one of the Kodiak islands at 3pm"

      --
      A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
    2. Re:This is bound to work out well... by FrYGuY101 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I can see it now...

      "Well, uh, first up, I have to go to a support rally for nazis, then I have to proclaim at a press conference "M$ $uX0rz, Linux r0x0rz j00 b0x0rz" (How do I pronounce that?), then I have to calculate Pi to the last digit, resolve an infinite loop, and build a quantum computer, after that I have to setup a free-porn website. Well, actually, I have to set up 1,283,948,283 different free porn websites, but I'll just set up one and tell everybody that recommended that one that it's the one they asked for..."

      --
      "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living."

      - Seneca
    3. Re:This is bound to work out well... by Peyna · · Score: 3, Informative

      His district isn't that small; but certainly not as hard to get from one end to the other as Ohio's 8th district would be: map

      Actually one of the less gerrymandered looking district maps I've seen. 18 and 6 are the only suspicious looking ones. That and the fact that the district containing Columbus is split kinda weird (Franklin County). It's also curious to note that the part of Montgomery County that slipped into the 8th district contains almost soley Wright Patterson AFB.

      --
      What?
    4. Re:This is bound to work out well... by Peyna · · Score: 4, Interesting

      To see a more obviously gerrymandered district (which might just be because I'm more familiar with the state) look at Indiana's.

      Every little "bubble" you see shooting off of a large district is a larger town that was stuck in the district in order to absorb the democratic votes from it. For instance, the northeast and southeast parts of Marion County (Indianapolis, mostly district 7) are included in the 5th district, which except for those areas, is almost all rural, or very high income (north of Indy).

      Similary, the southeast side of Ft Wayne (very low income, heavily Democratic) is separated from the rest of the city.

      The 4th district was drawn almost specifically to put Purdue and IU in the same district (very liberal tending towns, and most residents are younger and less likely to vote) and then lump them in with nothing but rural voters.

      It's sad that part of the reason that Indiana sends so many Republicans to Congress is because the Republicans at home are the ones that drew the districts for them. (They packed as many democrats as they could into the 7th and 1st district, and spread the remaining ones around well enough to make them ineffective.

      I think that congressional districts should follow cultural and economic boundaries as well as possible. That way, you have voters you have a vested interest in the same thing represented by one person. It makes no sense for a person in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the poorest city to be represented by the same person as that of the richest person in the richest neighborhood. (Southeast side of Indy and Carmel, respectively)

      --
      What?
  3. any angle by bone43 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    its nice to see a new angle pop up every now and again, but if elected do you think he will still be letting the web votes run his time in office?

  4. I'll be very surprised if he wins by SpamKu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    considering how Diebold is in his district and will proably crush him with massive donations to his opponent.

    If he is very good and genuine, he may stand a chance, but I wouldn't bet on it.

    Nifty Ideas for input, though. And I can appriciate a man who stands up for what he thinks is right.

    --
    If I had a real .sig, it would go here.
  5. GIMMICK. by Noose+For+A+Neck · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't really think any more needs to be said.

    --

    Software piracy is victimless theft.

  6. The Sims: DC by marktaw.com · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are you sure this isn't just a plug for the next Maxis game?

    1. Re:The Sims: DC by RatBastard · · Score: 3, Funny

      We'll know if we can make him woohoo with his wife in a changing booth at a clothing store.

      --
      Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
  7. Uh-oh by HungSquirrel · · Score: 4, Funny

    Best of all: Jeff is fighting back against Diebold and their paperless voting machines -- and they're based in his district!

    He's doomed.

    --
    $ whatis themeaningoflife
    themeaningoflife: not found
  8. Redesign site.. by maskedbishounen · · Score: 4, Funny

    Lose the flash. Lose the white on light-blue. Lose the red submit button. Lose the JavaScript.

    And then Ramen noodles for lunch. Yum!

    --
    "An infinite number of monkeys typing into GNU emacs would never make a good program."
    1. Re:Redesign site.. by HungSquirrel · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, his site has some tacky design. So does Slashdot, but I can still appreciate the decent content that crops up here once in awhile.

      --
      $ whatis themeaningoflife
      themeaningoflife: not found
  9. At first... by Pantero+Blanco · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I thought this was a joke, especially after reading his last name, but it seems serious.

    He's trying a gimmick, a bad one at that, to get elected. Getting "in touch with the community" doesn't mean letting them completely plan your day...

  10. Wait a minute by b0lt · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What happens when his opponent hires someone to use millions of proxies for him to drop out of the race? Or something similar?

    --
    got sig?
  11. I have always wondered... by the-matt-mobile · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have always wondered what would happen if one of our representatives hosted a web site that allowed people in his/her district to know what votes were coming up in Congress, how he/she is planning to vote and why, and allowed some informal polling and commentary on the issues. I know this isn't what this guy is doing, but I wonder if it isn't the logical next step. You'd have to think that that sort of system would be the ideal of a representative democracy, but alas I don't expect any career politician to actually document their position on everything and set themselves up to be held accountable to their constituency. Especially since if they ever run for higher office that sort of thing gets used against them.

  12. Sound familiar... by adam31 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Should he sleep in? Prepare for his debate? Campaign door to door?

    OOO! Let me try. How about build a house with one room. Once inside, take away the door. Hilarity ensues.

  13. Gimmick yes, but bad? by Quikyn · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "It attracts people to come and engage with your campaign in a way that is fun and interesting," Noble said.

    I agree he's trying a gimmick, but is it necessarily a bad one? He's recieving press, he's getting his name out, and if he continues with schedules like the ones suggested in the article, he could make a very good name for himself.

    No harm in him trying to make himself stand out from candidates that do sleep in, don't attend events, but have enough money to advertise their campaign to death. Don't communities want leaders that get involved rather than sit idly by?

  14. He's cool by Jett · · Score: 4, Informative

    He posts on DailyKos.com sometimes, so do a few of his campaign staff. From what I recall of his postings there he seems like he's a genuinely nice guy, definitely intelligent and aware of the issues. He started promoting this gimmick in a diary on DailyKos. It seems like an interesting idea to me, it's a good way to show people what kind of things he does as part of his campaign and it gives them a sense that he is responsive to them.

  15. Diebold by _w00d_ · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...has an unusual approach in deciding how to spend his campaign. He asks Web surfers: Should he sleep in?...

    Best of all: Jeff is fighting back against Diebold and their paperless voting machines -- and they're based in his district!

    I can see Diebold continually voting for him to "sleep in past noon" and "begin another cocaine binge" in an attempt to make him lose the election.

  16. why so hard for Congress-people to vote? by jeffehobbs · · Score: 3, Interesting


    A sort-of on-topic question which occurred to me during the VP debate, when Cheney was chiding Edwards for missing votes in the senate: why is it so hard to get our congress-people to vote? "Missing votes" seems to be a ongoing and constant criticism of even our best political representatives.

    Do they have to be physically present to cast a vote? If so, why? Can't we afford to get these people a blackberry or a treo or something? (I'm not being facetious, I just don't know.)

    ~jeff

  17. Transparency by Deliveranc3 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If a politician ran on a platform of almost total transparency I would like to think he would get total voteage.

    Republican or Democrat doesn't really matter when you worry they do something meriting impeachment behind closed doors.

    Politicians that do this WILL win it's as simple as that.