The Blog Party

So here I am giving a brief campaign speech at Great Small Works’ Spaghetti Dinner:

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I’m going to try and present - or at least visit - as many events as I can over the next few weeks. But the big one at the moment will be June 12th at Galapagos:

“Say Goodnight Gracie Mansion” -An All-Star Evening of Alternative Comedy, and a Rally and petition-signing party for The Blog Party/AndyForMayor.org

Join us Sunday, June 12th at 8 p.m. for “Say Goodnight Gracie Mansion” an all-star evening of alternative comedy and petition-signing party for The Blog Party featuring performances from Jon Friedman (The Rejection Show), Bob Powers (girlsarepretty.com), Todd Levin (tremble.com), Michelle Collins (votergasm.org),
Carolyn Castiglia, Becky Yamamoto & other special surprise guests.

Fun stuff!

My campaign buttons are here! So I’m too legit to quit now. See?:

If you want one let me know. I can’t afford to mail them to you. But I can meet you somewhere…

I’ve been obsessing about this but… if you want to register to vote you have to go to a Board of Elections office or download the application and register by mail. Why can’t you register online??

It didn’t take very long for the I.R.S to make it possible to pay taxes online, but no-one in government can be bothered to make elections and voter registration web-accessible. The discussion’s been going on for a long time, I found an article in PC World from November 2001!

The private sector is already working on it. A quick google search reveals several online voting services including Canada’s e-vote, votenet and something called Ballot Bin. Sure, its a risky proposition and we’d face a lot of technical and logistical hurdles. But is it any less risky than trusting votes to Diebold?

Oh and here’s another cool site I found for the election science institute.

We need to reform the election process and we need to bring City Hall online in a more public way. There should be municipally-run bulletin boards and chat rooms where the public can log on to discuss the issues. Rather than using Push Polling to gather opinions, why not create a public space online where people can speak freely?

And the Mayor’s office should keep a blog in addition to his radio show and other appearances. A daily log of what he’s doing and what his opinions are. He’s already doing pretty well, to be honest - check out his homepage. But he could do better!

Taking it to the streets. I’ve been thinking a lot about this, obviously, as June 7th approaches and the clock starts ticking. In 1770 the population of the Colonies was about 1.8 million people. In 2005 the population is approximately 296 million people. Of those, about 159 million people were internet users as of 2002. One can only assume that the total number of internet users has vastly increased since then.

SO why is it that the mechanics of our political system still operates as if we were in the 19th century? Yes there are searchable databases and information is available online, but you can’t vote online. You can’t nominate online. You can’t gather signatures online. And that’s just ridiculous. Most people - especially working people in offices - spend a LOT of time online. In ten short years it has been completely assimilated into everyday life like the phone, television and postal service. So we need to start pushing to:

A: Get Municipal Broadband and Wireless and
B: Get the Mechanics of the Political Process online.

That’ll be a long haul. But if we bundled education and job training initiatives with universal internet access we would do a lot to bridge the digital divide and empower new generations of workers to move into the digital age. Why should we outsource to India when there are unemployed people right here in NYC that could be trained to have these jobs?

In the short term, I’d like your help to use the internet to at least get on the ballot. Between June 7th and July 14th I have to gather at least 7500 signatures. I will be making campaign “Listening Stops” and appearances to do this. (I am also collecting platform items - send me your ideas for platform items at info@blogparty.org). BUT it is impossible to be everywhere at once. I have only a few volunteers who can devote that kind of time. But as the venerable proverb says, “Many hands make much work light.”

Basically, if you’re a registered Democrat who lives in NYC, then you can download the Independent Nominating form(I’ve already filled out part of it), print it out on legal size paper, take it around and get people to sign it. They have to be registered Democrats who live in NYC, too. Then sign the bottom as a witness. I’m working on finding out the exact specifics of how the form is to be filled out and how to avoid having them disqualified. But if 100 people download it and get 75 signatures, I’m on the ballot, theoretically. So please, download the form and get some friends to sign it and then get it to me before July 14th!

This isn’t about ME - this is about harnessing the power of the internet to empower the citizenry. This isn’t just about getting me on the ballot, this is about proving that it can be done without a lot of money and a huge machine. This is about proving that the internet can pull people together to accomplish actual goals in the real world. I mean, blogs and discussion forums and online conversations are great. But let’s bring the change directly to the process, not only as a means of commenting on the process.

Thanks!

I was campaigning in the East Village again last night, meeting with a number of my constituents at Odessa. Due to an unfortunate incident involving vodka and a digital camera I don’t have pictures.

But, as usual, it was a great night on the campaign trail. People were asking me, “What’s your platform?” and I told them, as I always do, “My Platform is YOU!” As I have said, I am the listening candidate and I’m here for you. I’m here to listen to your concerns, your needs, your dreams and I believe that if we work together, we can make those dreams come true and make New York a greater city for all of its citizens.

So, in the spirit of being the “listening candidate”, here are some ideas from the people I met at Odessa, in no particular order:

1. Municipal Bike Lockers
2. Free Yellow Bikes like they have in Portland
3. No buildings bigger than 6 stories tall in Williamsburg
4. Let there be more than six big gatherings in Central Park, because four of them are already taken.
5. Municipal Fashion Police
6. Bring back CMJ or some other cool SXSW type festival.
7. More bike paths
8. Less automobile traffic
9. Stricter hit-and-run penalties
10. RENTAL CREDITS FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE

This last item was very interesting and came out of my stated position that people who work for nonprofit organizations should receive free MTA Metrocards and easier access to affordable housing (after the most at-risk new yorkers). Nonprofit organizations usually employ idealist and altruistic people who provide important services to the community. These jobs pay less than private sector and for-profit jobs. Teachers and all city employees have unions to represent them, there are affordable housing programs for city employees, why not extend that to people who willingly choose to work for nonprofits? There should be some kind of incentive program.

Then the idea evolved that people who do community service to improve the quality of life in NYC should get rental credits - some kind of hours to dollars ratio. It makes sense to me. And then landlords who participate in this program will receive similar tax credits and exemptions proportionate to their buildings’s involvement.

See what a little listening and “out of the box” thinking can do?

Finally, someone asked me what made me think I was qualified for this job and I said, “Because I care. Because I have compassion. Because I listen. Because I have character – which is something sorely lacking amongst these career politicians who are running for office in this election.”

This person replied, “I don’t think character is as important as policy.” And by gum, I’ve never been prouder than when my lovely wife Rachel stepped up and said, “Character IS Policy.”

Rachel has been my rock throughout this whole process and I’m going to miss her while she’s visiting relatives in Europe. But I look forward to sharing her wit and wisdom with you as the campaign goes on. I know that you will grow to love and appreciate her as I have.

You know, when I first said I was going to do this Mayor thing, people said I was crazy. Said I was unqualified. Said I hadn’t really thought this through. Well, they were right. I’m a little bit crazy, sure. I hadn’t really thought this through. And I’m definitely unqualified. But qualifications aren’t everything. Sure, it’s great to have run a multi-billion dollar company or dedicated your career to being in government and getting re-elected over and over again. But sometimes, if you care about something, you’ve just gotta jump into the fray, qualifications or no. And I believe in the Little Guy.

As I said when I announced my campaign, I’m running on the Blog Party ticket because, “blogs, in all their messy glory, symbolize what I believe in.”The Blog Party is less a political party than a state of mind. I believe that everybody should have a chance to have their say, regardless of how whacked out and unreasonable. It’s about standing up for the Little Guy. And nobody has captured that spirit better than Poetry Slam founder Marc Smith with this poem:

Underdog

But what the hell. I’m for him,
Whoever he is
Because, even today,
When it comes to a stolen hat,
A stolen chance,
A stolen you name it,
He stands up right in the face of it,
Come what may, and says,
“Hey. Hey. You can’t do things like that!”

-Marc Smith

Was campaigning in my old neighborhood of Williamsburg last night. I met with some of my constituents at Sea and The Levee before heading over to The Collapsable Hole to see Banana Bag and Bodice’s experimental theater double feature called “Panel . Animal” which consists of The Young War: A Panel Discussion on the Death of Love and Sandwich: A Musical about Killing Animals. The first piece was okay, but the second piece was brilliant. So go support your local artists and see the show!

Here’s me and one of my constituents:

Here’s one of the guys from Banana Bag & Bodice:

Here’s my favorite Chinese Take-Away from when I lived at 75 Roebling St.:

I was campaigning last night at a party held by the Australian Consulate at Dance Theater Workshop to celebrate the opening of Chunky Move’s Tense Dave. It was a great show and a great party, sorry I didn’t get photos!

But informal polls [specifically the kids from flavorpill] suggest that my current slogan, “Just Some Guy” is not particularly compelling. So in the interest of open source democracy and listening to my consituents I will open up the discussion. What do you think my slogan should be? Right now I’m thinking “The Candidate Who Listens”. But that’s a little tepid. “Your Man In City Hall”? Too Jimmy Stewart. What about, “I’m Here For You!”…hmmm

Just got an e-mail (see below) for a march and rally on Tuesday, June 7th. I plan on being at least at the rally to try and gather signatures and demonstrate my opposition to sweetheart development deals. We’ll show those fat cats in City Hall a thing or two, by gum.

On Tuesday, June 7th there will be a march from Brooklyn Borough Hall to a Rally at City Hall

WHEN DO OUR COMMUNITIES START GET SWEETHEART DEALS!?