We’ve heard Rick talk about a soft-money ban, and Hillary’s opposition to school vouchers. But what about affordable housing, welfare reform, transportation or child care? With just 29 days left until the election, do you know where the candidates stand on the issues that matter to you?
Now, you can hear the candidates’ views and voice your feedback on a new cyberforum that debuts October 12. The moderated forum debuts at 11 a.m. with an hour-and-a-half chat, giving voters a place to hash out their questions and concerns.
Whether the candidates themselves or their campaign gurus will make a virtual appearance to answer those questions directly is still unknown. But prior to the chat, people can check out the candidates’ responses to questions pooled by United Neighborhood Houses and New School University’s Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, the two groups hosting the forum.
“A lot of the issues we’re talking about are things that haven’t come up heavily in the campaign or that haven’t been covered by the media. This is a way to get that material out,” said the New School’s Andrew White.
Several of New York’s settlement houses are also inviting residents who don’t have computer access to participate in the forum from their computer learning centers.
The online forum should please policy-hungry advocates like Housing Works, the nonprofit AIDS housing group that protested at both candidates’ campaign headquarters last week, demanding that the hopefuls give serious attention to HIV. “Hillary talks a lot about global AIDS, but what about AIDS in Brooklyn? Bring it home,” said Terri Smith Caronia, a policy analyst and organizer with Housing Works.
To join the forum, log on to www.dialnsa.edu.