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January 04, 2006

The 40/40 Project: A Year-Long Candidate Education Forum

By Phillip Martin

A couple months ago, I wrote a column titled "The Year of Change" that outlined what I believe we can do to bring change to Texas. Since those of us who write for Burnt Orange Report can't raise a million dollars and aren't in control of any large-scale message for Democrats, we must do the best we can with what we've got.

Today, BOR is announcing a major, year-long commitment to bring about that change we're always talking about. Starting next week, we're going to launch the 40/40 Project.

Our goal is to feature 40 candidates in 40 weeks, from January 9 until the start of early voting for the General Election on October 23 (with a week off for the primaries). Every week, we'll feature a certain candidate, and every day we will focus on a different aspect of that candidate and the campaign he or she is running. The breakdown for each day will go as follows:

Monday: "Get to Know the Candidate." A personal biography, any significant staffers/supporters of the campaign, and any important newspaper articles about the candidate.

Tuesday: "Get to Know the Race." An analysis of the district/area they're running in, and, once we get past the primaries, a quick look at their opponent.

Wednesday: "One-on-One." A personal interview a BOR writer conducted with the candidate.

Thursday: "On the Issues." A breakdown specifically on issues, expanded from the interview and any candidate forums we attend.

Friday: "In Their Own Words." A column the candidate writes him/herself.

I will be heading up this project for the first month or so, and will be the unofficial "Team Leader" for the 40/40 Project -- even though all BOR writers will, at one time or another, write for the project.

We will begin next week with a look at the candidates in the special election for House District 48. Donna Howard and Kathy Rider have already agreed to participate. For primary races, we're going to ask all candidates to participate and whoever says yes -- that's who we'll feature. I'm sure questions of fair/even coverage will arise, but I imagine we'll all be able to make it through just fine.

Anyone with any specific questions, comments, or complaints may e-mail me (phillip@burntorangereport.com), or leave a comment below. Any campaign managers and/or consultants who would like to have their candidate featured may also e-mail me with their expressed interest.

Posted by Phillip Martin at January 4, 2006 01:30 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Heck of an idea. I look forward to the forum.

Sonia

Posted by: Sonia S. at January 4, 2006 09:18 AM

I'm looking forward to this, Phillip.

Posted by: neesha at January 4, 2006 10:14 AM

Sounds great, Phillip. Way to be active.

Posted by: Scott at January 4, 2006 11:21 AM

Possible questions to Dem candidates:

1)At which percentage do you want to set taxes on licenses for crawdad fishing?
2)Are handguns more dangerous when used with one hand or two hands? If more dangerous with one hand, should we go beyond a proposed trigger lock and require all guns in Texas to be equipped with a "hand lock" that requires both hands to be attached to the gun?
3)To reach out to inner-city horizontally-challenged kids, which hip-hop artist should we use to produce "Sweatin' to th' R to th' B" when the Texas Department of Human Services designs this video for them to fight childhood obesity?
4)To level the playing field on school finance, should we have school finance directors play Bingo to see which school districts get how much in funds, in the same way that senior citizens supplement their monthly income using this method?

Posted by: Trey at January 4, 2006 01:34 PM

Oh, Trey. What an intellectual and valuable person you are to the political discussion.

Posted by: Phillip Martin at January 4, 2006 01:48 PM

C'mon, Philly...who said conservatives can't be irreverent?

Posted by: Trey at January 4, 2006 10:54 PM
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