Can you hear me now?

Not just BH (0.00 / 0)

And, this is not just about BlueHampshire. Look at the the twitter posts that were about HB436 not to mention all the links shared on Facebook, email, IM, etc.

My next post will pull together a "report card" of sort on the the use of internet technology by our elected officials.

Hope > Fear



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by: Mike Hoefer @ Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 22:18:39 PM CDT

Live Stream (4.00 / 1)

Of course the fact that the House and Senate stream their proceedings is a very good thing and allowed the "live blog" to happen.

Hope > Fear



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by: Mike Hoefer @ Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 22:35:37 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

being able to listen (0.00 / 0)

really requires a high speed connection

'Aints no more

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by: JonnyBBad @ Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 22:40:57 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Small note on numbers. (4.00 / 2)

Site meters aren't terribly accurate, but FWIW, the one I used showed that we had almost 3,000 unique visits (and 14,000 page views) on the HB436 day alone, not the week.

And what Mike said.

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by: Dean Barker @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 04:19:11 AM CDT

With opportunity comes obligation. (4.00 / 1)

Now that more citizens are aware how difficult and time-consuming it is to represent the interests of the people of New Hampshire, more should recognize their duty to pull their share.  Citizenship is a block of obligations (to vote, to hold office, to legislate, to serve on juries, to provide support, to enforce the law).  While we don't extract them, they are still there and voting and paying taxes aren't quite enough, if good citizens is what we are to be.

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by: hannah @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 05:45:49 AM CDT

Split those infinitives (4.00 / 1)

I don't know if this adds anything here, but I can see a difficulty developing with the desire for openness, publicity, transparency, webness, if you will, and the time spent on doing the research and people contact that would seem to be required of conscientious state reps. I watch one rather closely and I can tell you that we are now back to the 18 hour a day work cycle which used to be characteristic of her high school teaching. There just isn't any way to know enough about 1100 bills, facebooking, myspacing, twittering, local concerning, answering machine feedback, committeeing, shmoozing, networking and on and on. Along with that little badge, the license plates and the transponder needs to come a switch that turns off the rest of the world while the rep. catches up.

So there is this built in contradiction that comes out loud and clear. If you have no staff (I would assume that this is the mechanism that "higher" officials use to spread out their time) and a fixed number of hours per day and days per week, you can spend them only on learning, listening, or public contact. If you sacrifice the learning and listening because you wish to get re-elected, you are quite likely to do things you wouldn't otherwise do because you just don't get to do the homework. I understand, way better now, why so many politicians look shallow and clueless. It may be because they just haven't the time to do a thorough job while twittering madly away. Of course it may also be that they are shallow and clueless but let's not punish the one as the other.  

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by: xteeth @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 07:46:50 AM CDT

Good Points (4.00 / 2)

the time crunch is a huge issue, particularly when you add travel from home to concord and back into the mix! And now you want me to Tweet too!

I guess the trick would be to find a way to use the technology to leverage your time.

As an example PSNH, was able to let 2035 people know about the Power outage at the Manch Mill Yard with a single Tweet. How many calls to their call center did that save?

Imagine how different last week might have been if we knew a comprimise amendment was in the works or a Senator clearly stated his/her position via a blog post.

You also touch on some structural issue that affect our legislators has well. Ever bill gets a hearing, no limits on the bills that can be submitted etc.

I few years ago a rep I was talking two suggest a system here reps could only sponsor or co sponsor X number of bills. That may be one way to focus on issues people feel are most important.

Hope > Fear



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by: Mike Hoefer @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 08:05:36 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

But.... (4.00 / 2)

It might not have been a good thing for the public to be aware that a compromise was in the works, or for senators to engage in a public back and forth during negotiations. It would have given the anti's a chance to shift strategy, and I would rather have the senators focused on their work, not dealing with blog posts, during an intense negotiation.  I love transparency, communication and openness, but I also don't want the legislators to be part of a 24 hour reality show - a gross overstatement, I know. In fact, in light of how everything turned out, seems like it may have been a good thing they weren't spending time participating here!      

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 10:55:42 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I love transparency (0.00 / 0)

But

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by: JimC @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 11:25:56 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Micromanagement (4.00 / 1)

As citizens, our duties are pervasive. However, in a representative gov't, we must keep enough distance to allow our legislators to operate.

How far is that distance? I don't know. But, there certainly is a line that, if crossed, becomes a clear case of micromanagement.

I think I'd be annoyed with highly organized citizen lobbying group, as much as any professional lobbyist. Especially, if they were ill-mannered.

Eye of the beholder, and all that, yo.

www.KusterforCongress.com - www.paulhodesforsenate.com
www.nikitsongas.com - www.devalpatrick.com

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 14:20:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Slippery slope (0.00 / 0)

I'd rather err on the side of openness.

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by: JimC @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 15:21:31 PM CDT

[ Parent ]