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Hi everyone,
This headline isn't a gimmick--it represents a real choice BlogHer needs to make in our 2008 Election coverage, and we need to hear from you and your readers to head in the right direction (see poll below).
BlogHer's Election 2008 coverage was created in response to the terrific enthusiasm this community demonstrated while developing our non-partisan 2008 Voter Manifesto, twelve policy questions American women have about health care, Iraq, the economy and the environment.
Frankly, however, our political team is confused by the response of presidential candidates to BlogHer, and to some other organizations and blogs by women. For the past six months, BlogHer has invited seven leading presidential candidates -- Democratic and Republican, we're non-partisan -- to participate with BlogHer's influential, passionate community of now 7.6 million techno-savvy women, who write and read thousands of influential blogs. While our editors, Morra Aarons-Mele and Mary Katharine Ham have made in-roads with the campaigns and we do have another year until Election Day, at this point we've been told no, both in words and in actions, as have some other women's blogs and political groups.
And there’s more -- what really confuses us is that:
I believe these candidates are missing a key piece of the social media puzzle where women voters are concerned so I'll spell it out here: BlogHer's surveys demonstrate time and again the extraordinary influence of women who blog. According to our most recent survey, 62 percent of our bloggers and their readers have purchased a product based on a recommendation from a blogger and 52 percent have recommended a product to friends online. Presidential candidates – the ultimate product in an election year -- who earn the votes of these women stand to benefit from blogger influence in our communities! Women who blog are an essential and influential segment of the American female population that has made up the majority of American voters since 1964.
So our question is, do we want to be marketed to by presidential campaigns or spoken with? And by whom? We think that if they want to get our votes, candidates themselves should answer our questions in the Voter Manifesto. But only if that’s the course this community supports. So -- could you please lead us in the right direction by answering these questions and asking your readers to help us too by posting this poll on your blog? We’ll take all our votes and our voices on this poll right to the presidential campaigns.
How Should Presidential Candidates Earn Women’s Votes?
CLICK HERE to take the survey questions described below1. Do you want BlogHer to talk with the candidates themselves -- Obama, Hillary, Mitt, etc.-- or will their families and supporters -- Oprah, Chelsea, Ann, etc. -- do?
Candidates
Spouses and supporters
Both
None2. Do you want presidential candidates to answer policy questions in the Voter Manifesto?
Yes, on video
Yes, in print
No, the candidates don't have to but the campaign should
No, I have a different question I'd like to ask: (Open-ended question)3. Are you turned on or turned off by the candidate’s tactics to reach moms (as spelled out below)?
I like efforts like “Women for Obama” and “Moms for Hillary”
I’m turned off by these efforts
Other ____4. Do you want BlogHer to interview mainstream media personalities who have interviewed and know the candidates and their positions?
Katie Couric | CBS
Gwen Ifill | PBS
Rosie O'Donnell
Mara Liasson | NPR
Oprah Winfrey
Barbara Walters | ABC
No
Other ____________5. Where do you get most of your news?
Newspapers
TV
Radio
Internet
Blogs6. Do you have a message for the candidates about this initiative that you’d like to share?
Thank you so much for voting! And to provide you with more information, here's a timeline of the past year and the work BlogHer has done to bring your questions to candidates:
Jan 2007:
-Democratic Senators Obama and Clinton
