Political Web site brings debates directly to voters
Utah citizens may become better informed voters with the creation of a new Web site, www.utahdebate.org, by John Mulholland, a USU doctoral student in computer science.
The Web site has been running for nearly two months, and began because Mulholland said he wanted to see a fair debate between candidates.
Mulholland, a former Canadian citizen, said when he came to the U.S. he became frustrated with how shallow political debates were.
“I watched the presidential debates in 2004 and they were pathetic compared to the Canadian Prime Minister debates which were very intense,” he said. “How do you really get a fair debate? The news organizations don’t give a fair debate. They make up questions they want to answer and don’t ask hard questions.”
The Web site, which currently has 34 registered members, has forums for debate between candidates, questions for candidates and discussion of the race for Senate and District one through three candidates. Also on the site are forums for every county in Utah, so people can discuss tax laws and other issues.
The candidates registered for the site so far are Eric Hamilton, Julian Hatch, Lynn Badler, Mark Hudson, Pete Ashdown, Rob Bishop, Roger Price, Roger Price, Scott Bradley and Steve Olsen. Only Hatch, Badler, Hudson, Ashdown, Price and Olsen, have posted so far.
“I was taught by society a certain way of thinking and I think there’s lot of value in these smaller political parties,” Mulholland said.
He said he had four reasons for creating the site:
“First, it’s an easy source of information for people. It’s difficult, especially in local races to know who’s running. Second, to show contrast between candidates. There is no contrast between two candidates right now. Pete may have a great point, but I want to hear Scott’s response. Third, it levels the political playing field. These people could have a very important message and we could be missing it. Campaign finance laws have been designed to kill third parties. And fourth, to hear from the candidates directly, so the media doesn’t warp it, especially the Statesman.”
Mulholland said he doesn’t make any money off of running the Web site, he just hopes to let candidates talk to the people about “issues that directly affect them.”
Students should learn how to think for themselves, he said, and look at the topics that interest them. He encourages students to go on the site and ask questions.
“You don’t get any meat,” Mulholland said. “What should get covered is not the issues that are important to the media, but to the people.”
The debates will be running on Utah Debate until elections, and will still provide a forum for people in separate counties to air their views.