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wrobert

Beach Fanatic

[quote="Interested Girl, post: 457964"]AN often heard comment heard from the candidates as I mmet and talked with them was " Oh - I follow the Sowal postings but No Way I'm posting there any longer.
 
Should we be concerned that was a mind set or just an excuse ?
 
I would love to hear your thoughts.
 
This is not a dig at Sowal,, but an atttempt to understand how the process can be improved in the future if any changes need to made.
 
:idontno:[/quote]
 
 
Go back and read some of the threads.

<blockquote class="xfBb-quote" data-name="Interested Girl">AN often heard comment heard from the candidates as I mmet and talked with them was &quot; Oh - I follow the Sowal postings but No Way I&#039;m posting there any longer. 
 
Should we be concerned that was a mind set or just an excuse ? 
 
I would love to hear your thoughts. 
 
This is not a dig at Sowal,, but an atttempt to understand how the process can be improved in the future if any changes need to made. 
 
:idontno:</blockquote> 
 
Go back and read some of the threads.

kathydwells

Darlene is my middle name, not my nickname

[quote="wrobert, post: 457986"]Go back and read some of the threads.[/quote]
 
That is what I was going to suggest.

<blockquote class="xfBb-quote" data-name="wrobert">Go back and read some of the threads.</blockquote> 
That is what I was going to suggest.

ShallowsNole

The ones who came here after they announced their candidacies probably won't be back, or may rejoin under a different name.  It's hard on our candidates (heck, anybody) to endure not only the schedule and then come home. log in, and defend themselves here too.  However, I think the ones were were members of our online community prior to qualifying day will stick around.   Most of them are pretty good peeps. ;-)

The ones who came here after they announced their candidacies probably won&#039;t be back, or may rejoin under a different name.  It&#039;s hard on our candidates (heck, anybody) to endure not only the schedule and then come home. log in, and defend themselves here too.  However, I think the ones were were members of our online community prior to qualifying day will stick around.   Most of them are pretty good peeps. ;-)

Kurt

Admin

I made up my voting mind on this forum and I imagine a lot of others did too. I think there are quite a few candidates that don't mind a back and forth, and are big enough people to ignore the real troublemakers. It started out well but we got a few hardcases on the forum who thought it better to harass candidates rather than talk positively about their candidate of choice. Such is modern day politics I suppose. I guess maybe we'll have to go to an interview type situation like newspapers have done for decades. We could also have a subforum for candidates with more moderation.

I made up my voting mind on this forum and I imagine a lot of others did too. I think there are quite a few candidates that don&#039;t mind a back and forth, and are big enough people to ignore the real troublemakers. It started out well but we got a few hardcases on the forum who thought it better to harass candidates rather than talk positively about their candidate of choice. Such is modern day politics I suppose. I guess maybe we&#039;ll have to go to an interview type situation like newspapers have done for decades. We could also have a subforum for candidates with more moderation.

trish hutchison

Beach Comber

I think if you look back at the postings it looks like some people had 2 usernames.  First, they would pose a question or comment, then they would log in as another person and continue the attack.  This may or may not have been the case, it just appeared that way.
 
I'll continue to be around.  I really like SoWal, and I think it's a great way for the whole county to get connected.  I may not be on here often because my computer is a relic and takes forever to go from page to page, even with high speed internet, but I WILL still be around. :D :D

I think if you look back at the postings it looks like some people had 2 usernames. First, they would pose a question or comment, then they would log in as another person and continue the attack. This may or may not have been the case, it just appeared that way. 
 
I&#039;ll continue to be around. I really like SoWal, and I think it&#039;s a great way for the whole county to get connected. I may not be on here often because my computer is a relic and takes forever to go from page to page, even with high speed internet, but I WILL still be around. 😀 😀

Interested Girl

rapunzel

I made up my mind on this forum as well.  I think many of the high quality candidates found great champions on this board, and perhaps some of them will consider coordinating 'new media outreach' into their campaigns.  With a little additional moderation, or perhaps a no Beach Crab rule for posting on the candidate forum, this forum can continue to be an invaluable resource for this community.  

I have thought a great deal about the low turnout in SoWal yesterday.  Studies show that negative attacks work because they drive down turnout for the attacked candidate, rather than sway voters to vote for someone else.  The negativity on this forum is a problem, not for the candidates per se, but for the impact on voter participation -- it hurts us all.  If we had kept it positive think how differently the District 5 race could have been.  We all supported Osborne, Hudson, or Braunstein.  If we could have gotten people excited about our candidates, rather than turned off of their opponents, we may have had a very different result.  Oh, and if Bob Hudson hadn't sent out that nasty last minute attack mail targeting Osborne.  

I hope we have all learned a lesson about the price to pay for negativity and nastiness.

I made up my mind on this forum as well. I think many of the high quality candidates found great champions on this board, and perhaps some of them will consider coordinating &#039;new media outreach&#039; into their campaigns. With a little additional moderation, or perhaps a no Beach Crab rule for posting on the candidate forum, this forum can continue to be an invaluable resource for this community. 
 
I have thought a great deal about the low turnout in SoWal yesterday. Studies show that negative attacks work because they drive down turnout for the attacked candidate, rather than sway voters to vote for someone else. The negativity on this forum is a problem, not for the candidates per se, but for the impact on voter participation -- it hurts us all. If we had kept it positive think how differently the District 5 race could have been. We all supported Osborne, Hudson, or Braunstein. If we could have gotten people excited about our candidates, rather than turned off of their opponents, we may have had a very different result. Oh, and if Bob Hudson hadn&#039;t sent out that nasty last minute attack mail targeting Osborne. 
 
I hope we have all learned a lesson about the price to pay for negativity and nastiness.

Jdarg

SoWal Expert

We all know that SoWal.com is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the pulse of local news and issues.  

I don't think the candidates hurt themselves by posting, but some of their lame and sometimes nasty supporters didn't help them any.  Several candidates had supporters and attack methods that invited debate and criticism, and if it made them not want to post again, well, they (or their supporters) brought it on themselves.

And yes, I was stunned by the last minute post card mailed out by Bob Hudson.  Completely disgusting and desperate.  The funny thing was that he didn't recognize the threat of Jones- and spent a bunch of money mailing out ineffective crap.  Way to be visionary and watch the dollars, Mr. Hudson.

We all know that SoWal.com is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the pulse of local news and issues. 
 
I don&#039;t think the candidates hurt themselves by posting, but some of their lame and sometimes nasty supporters didn&#039;t help them any. Several candidates had supporters and attack methods that invited debate and criticism, and if it made them not want to post again, well, they (or their supporters) brought it on themselves. 
 
And yes, I was stunned by the last minute post card mailed out by Bob Hudson. Completely disgusting and desperate. The funny thing was that he didn&#039;t recognize the threat of Jones- and spent a bunch of money mailing out ineffective crap. Way to be visionary and watch the dollars, Mr. Hudson.

If you think Hudson and Osborne did not realize the true threat of a Jones victory you are sadly mistaken.  Both spent a tremendous amount of time working hard in the northen part of the county trying to win voters.  They both also knew that the southern precints were a problem in terms of turnout.

The real negative stuff was never posted here or mailed or even printed in papers. Just ask the candidates privately if you don't realize how 'good old boy' politics work.

Do you believe that 'negative' mailers only turned of southern precint voters ?
The voter turn out in the southern precincts was no worse than before and the people in the north just went to the polls and voted - something we failed to do once again.

If you think Hudson and Osborne did not realize the true threat of a Jones victory you are sadly mistaken. Both spent a tremendous amount of time working hard in the northen part of the county trying to win voters. They both also knew that the southern precints were a problem in terms of turnout. 
 
The real negative stuff was never posted here or mailed or even printed in papers. Just ask the candidates privately if you don&#039;t realize how &#039;good old boy&#039; politics work. 
 
Do you believe that &#039;negative&#039; mailers only turned of southern precint voters ? 
The voter turn out in the southern precincts was no worse than before and the people in the north just went to the polls and voted - something we failed to do once again.

Tom Cooper

I was thrown from the "pool" by the Coyote before the ink dried on my pre-qual paper work;-). I know....not an excuse. Speaking of Wile, wonder of he will be back now that the election is over?

I was thrown from the &quot;pool&quot; by the Coyote before the ink dried on my pre-qual paper work;-). I know....not an excuse. Speaking of Wile, wonder of he will be back now that the election is over?

[quote="trish hutchison, post: 458051"]I think if you look back at the postings it looks like some people had 2 usernames. First, they would pose a question or comment, then they would log in as another person and continue the attack. This may or may not have been the case, it just appeared that way.
 
I'll continue to be around. I really like SoWal, and I think it's a great way for the whole county to get connected. I may not be on here often because my computer is a relic and takes forever to go from page to page, even with high speed internet, but I WILL still be around. :D :D[/quote]
 
 
 That's called a sock puppet which is not allowed. We did have a little of that which we took care of when recognized. It did seem like there was more of it but you'd be surprised. Sometimes it's friends or spouses.

<blockquote class="xfBb-quote" data-name="trish hutchison">I think if you look back at the postings it looks like some people had 2 usernames. First, they would pose a question or comment, then they would log in as another person and continue the attack. This may or may not have been the case, it just appeared that way. 
 
I&#039;ll continue to be around. I really like SoWal, and I think it&#039;s a great way for the whole county to get connected. I may not be on here often because my computer is a relic and takes forever to go from page to page, even with high speed internet, but I WILL still be around. 😀 😀</blockquote> 
 
 That&#039;s called a sock puppet which is not allowed. We did have a little of that which we took care of when recognized. It did seem like there was more of it but you&#039;d be surprised. Sometimes it&#039;s friends or spouses.

WOW - The Coyote was a hoot.  He stated his/her objective clearly from day one - Get Ralph Out.  Wylie made it nteresting to start with - the got out of the way and let those who stayed in the game until the official qualifying period was over and then went quite letting the candidates fight it out.  He/she raised a lot of attention to the need for a change.

Smiling JOe

I like Kurt's idea of some creating some kind of Q&A for the candidates, but maybe in a spread sheet, short answer comparison chart, or longer answer format, but similar to some of the Meet the Candidates forums, where we have one question per thread, followed by the responses from each candidate, with a place for the public to comment or ask additional questions regarding the candidates' answers. 

The current format of random questions asked and answered in bulk, separated by many public comments and sometimes inaccurate accusations, takes away from the guts of it, and requires too much time from the candidates. Also, I don't think most of the population is reading in-depth answers from the candidate's, so easy-to-follow questions and answers are most likely to be read. 

I'm glad that many candidates chimed in to [url]www.sowal.com[/url] forums to respond. I don't agree with the premise of the first post, that they didn't post on here. I think if anything, they may have avoided responding to the inaccurate accusations posted by some negative campaigners for the opposition. It is easy to get sucked in, defending one's self, rather than promoting one's self. The negative campaigners hope that the worst will come out in a candidate and that the candidate will get off-focus from their campaign.

I like Kurt&#039;s idea of some creating some kind of Q&amp;A for the candidates, but maybe in a spread sheet, short answer comparison chart, or longer answer format, but similar to some of the Meet the Candidates forums, where we have one question per thread, followed by the responses from each candidate, with a place for the public to comment or ask additional questions regarding the candidates&#039; answers. 
 
The current format of random questions asked and answered in bulk, separated by many public comments and sometimes inaccurate accusations, takes away from the guts of it, and requires too much time from the candidates. Also, I don&#039;t think most of the population is reading in-depth answers from the candidate&#039;s, so easy-to-follow questions and answers are most likely to be read. 
 
I&#039;m glad that many candidates chimed in to <a href="http://www.sowal.com" target="_blank" class="link link--external" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">www.sowal.com</a> forums to respond. I don&#039;t agree with the premise of the first post, that they didn&#039;t post on here. I think if anything, they may have avoided responding to the inaccurate accusations posted by some negative campaigners for the opposition. It is easy to get sucked in, defending one&#039;s self, rather than promoting one&#039;s self. The negative campaigners hope that the worst will come out in a candidate and that the candidate will get off-focus from their campaign.

Oh they did avoid posting here. I can find no posts from Jones or George Wallace Smith. Adkinson stopped posting here as well as Cooper.  Johnson never came here and neither did Wilkerson or Winegarner.  Did anyone find a post from Larry Jones or Johnny Smith ? I didn't.  I also found no posts from Carlene Anderson, but maybe I just missed them. 

Maybe it was just the pace of the campaign.  Your idea about short answers in some spreadsheet format is a great idea.  The process will get better because the costs associated with the campaigns is very high and climbing. 
  
Just my observations. Hopefully we can find a way to engage them all in the future.

Oh they did avoid posting here. I can find no posts from Jones or George Wallace Smith. Adkinson stopped posting here as well as Cooper. Johnson never came here and neither did Wilkerson or Winegarner. Did anyone find a post from Larry Jones or Johnny Smith ? I didn&#039;t. I also found no posts from Carlene Anderson, but maybe I just missed them. 
 
Maybe it was just the pace of the campaign. Your idea about short answers in some spreadsheet format is a great idea. The process will get better because the costs associated with the campaigns is very high and climbing. 
 
Just my observations. Hopefully we can find a way to engage them all in the future.

beachmouse

And some of them may drift back over here when they've got time. Hopefully, everyone involved in the election is currently working extra hours to collect and remove the umpteen billion road signs from right of ways as required for statute. 

Yeah, I still want to believe in the Easter bunny too.

And some of them may drift back over here when they&#039;ve got time. Hopefully, everyone involved in the election is currently working extra hours to collect and remove the umpteen billion road signs from right of ways as required for statute. 
 
Yeah, I still want to believe in the Easter bunny too.

[quote="Interested Girl, post: 458275"]Oh they did avoid posting here. I can find no posts from Jones or George Wallace Smith. Adkinson stopped posting here as well as Cooper.  Johnson never came here and neither did Wilkerson or Winegarner.  Did anyone find a post from Larry Jones or Johnny Smith ? I didn't.  I also found no posts from Carlene Anderson, but maybe I just missed them. 

Maybe it was just the pace of the campaign.  Your idea about short answers in some spreadsheet format is a great idea.  The process will get better because the costs associated with the campaigns is very high and climbing. 
  
Just my observations. Hopefully we can find a way to engage them all in the future.[/quote]
You are correct that some didn't post, but many did. 

Not surprising that Jones wasn't here, because she was obviously targeting NoWal, judging by the fact that she lost every precinct in South Walton to Alan Osborne. 
George Wallace Smith -- does he really exist? 
Johnson? Does he show up for anything? He failed to show up to support his $300,000 budget request. He failed to show at all of the Meet the Candidate's forums. No surprises that he doesn't show up here. 
Johnny Smith, I not sure that he is internet savvy enough to know how to post on SoWal.com. (my dad is like that, too.)

You are spot-on regarding the costs of a campaign. If the candidates actually followed the rules, the costs would decrease, b/c they wouldn't spend money on printing,placing and pulling illegally-placed signs. SoWal.com offers a great place for free advertising, with more than 2,000,000 hits per month, according to Kurt's numbers which he shares. If we can just get a good balanced and fair format, it could be a great source for a paperless, plasticless, and litter-free "green" campaign.

<blockquote class="xfBb-quote" data-name="Interested Girl">Oh they did avoid posting here. I can find no posts from Jones or George Wallace Smith. Adkinson stopped posting here as well as Cooper. Johnson never came here and neither did Wilkerson or Winegarner. Did anyone find a post from Larry Jones or Johnny Smith ? I didn&#039;t. I also found no posts from Carlene Anderson, but maybe I just missed them. 
 
Maybe it was just the pace of the campaign. Your idea about short answers in some spreadsheet format is a great idea. The process will get better because the costs associated with the campaigns is very high and climbing. 
 
Just my observations. Hopefully we can find a way to engage them all in the future.</blockquote>You are correct that some didn&#039;t post, but many did. 
 
Not surprising that Jones wasn&#039;t here, because she was obviously targeting NoWal, judging by the fact that she lost every precinct in South Walton to Alan Osborne. 
George Wallace Smith -- does he really exist? 
Johnson? Does he show up for anything? He failed to show up to support his $300,000 budget request. He failed to show at all of the Meet the Candidate&#039;s forums. No surprises that he doesn&#039;t show up here. 
Johnny Smith, I not sure that he is internet savvy enough to know how to post on SoWal.com. (my dad is like that, too.) 
 
You are spot-on regarding the costs of a campaign. If the candidates actually followed the rules, the costs would decrease, b/c they wouldn&#039;t spend money on printing,placing and pulling illegally-placed signs. SoWal.com offers a great place for free advertising, with more than 2,000,000 hits per month, according to Kurt&#039;s numbers which he shares. If we can just get a good balanced and fair format, it could be a great source for a paperless, plasticless, and litter-free &quot;green&quot; campaign.

We agree on costs but will disagree on the reasons for those who did not post.  By the way Jones did not just campaign in the north - she campaigned heavily in Miramar.  She also spent over 10 grand advertising in the NW Daily News.

She executed her plan to win very well, just as Adkinson did.  Win North  and rely on the southern voters to once again not turn out.

It was not the large field - add Sids votes and George wallace Smiths votes to Osborne and she still beat him - same for Hudson - they both needed a large turnout in the South - neither got the turnout.

Adkinson relied on Cooper to take the votes away from Johnson which he did.

All three campaigns were destined to fail due to southern voter apathy.

We agree on costs but will disagree on the reasons for those who did not post. By the way Jones did not just campaign in the north - she campaigned heavily in Miramar. She also spent over 10 grand advertising in the NW Daily News. 
 
She executed her plan to win very well, just as Adkinson did. Win North and rely on the southern voters to once again not turn out. 
 
It was not the large field - add Sids votes and George wallace Smiths votes to Osborne and she still beat him - same for Hudson - they both needed a large turnout in the South - neither got the turnout. 
 
Adkinson relied on Cooper to take the votes away from Johnson which he did. 
 
All three campaigns were destined to fail due to southern voter apathy.

Maybe it is worthy of a new thread, but I think we need to have a discussion on negative ads vs. contrast ads.  These are real things that candidates have to deal with when making decisions on how to run their campaigns.

[quote="Smiling JOe, post: 458327"]You are correct that some didn't post, but many did. 
 
Not surprising that Jones wasn't here, because she was obviously targeting NoWal, judging by the fact that she lost every precinct in South Walton to Alan Osborne. 
George Wallace Smith -- does he really exist? 
Johnson? Does he show up for anything? He failed to show up to support his $300,000 budget request. He failed to show at all of the Meet the Candidate's forums. No surprises that he doesn't show up here. 
Johnny Smith, I not sure that he is internet savvy enough to know how to post on SoWal.com. (my dad is like that, too.)
 
You are spot-on regarding the costs of a campaign. If the candidates actually followed the rules, the costs would decrease, b/c they wouldn't spend money on printing,placing and pulling illegally-placed signs. SoWal.com offers a great place for free advertising, with more than 2,000,000 hits per month, according to Kurt's numbers which he shares. If we can just get a good balanced and fair format, it could be a great source for a paperless, plasticless, and litter-free "green" campaign.[/quote]
 
I was waiting until the end of the month but I'll let y'all know we have surpassed 6 million page views for August and still counting. :D That translates to over 19 million hits.
 
I agree with you about your reasoning. Jones and Jones had no reason to post here and C. Jones absence may be telling. Any flak she's getting on this forum is mostly from people who don't know her, or fear she's avoiding the people in her district. Hopefully that's not the case and she just doesn't have the ability.

<blockquote class="xfBb-quote" data-name="Smiling JOe">You are correct that some didn&#039;t post, but many did. 
 
Not surprising that Jones wasn&#039;t here, because she was obviously targeting NoWal, judging by the fact that she lost every precinct in South Walton to Alan Osborne. 
George Wallace Smith -- does he really exist? 
Johnson? Does he show up for anything? He failed to show up to support his $300,000 budget request. He failed to show at all of the Meet the Candidate&#039;s forums. No surprises that he doesn&#039;t show up here. 
Johnny Smith, I not sure that he is internet savvy enough to know how to post on SoWal.com. (my dad is like that, too.) 
 
You are spot-on regarding the costs of a campaign. If the candidates actually followed the rules, the costs would decrease, b/c they wouldn&#039;t spend money on printing,placing and pulling illegally-placed signs. SoWal.com offers a great place for free advertising, with more than 2,000,000 hits per month, according to Kurt&#039;s numbers which he shares. If we can just get a good balanced and fair format, it could be a great source for a paperless, plasticless, and litter-free &quot;green&quot; campaign.</blockquote> 
I was waiting until the end of the month but I&#039;ll let y&#039;all know we have surpassed 6 million page views for August and still counting. 😀 That translates to over 19 million hits. 
 
I agree with you about your reasoning. Jones and Jones had no reason to post here and C. Jones absence may be telling. Any flak she&#039;s getting on this forum is mostly from people who don&#039;t know her, or fear she&#039;s avoiding the people in her district. Hopefully that&#039;s not the case and she just doesn&#039;t have the ability.

AN often heard comment  heard from the candidates as I mmet and talked with them was " Oh - I follow the Sowal postings but No Way I'm posting there any longer.

Should we be concerned that was a mind set or just an excuse ?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

This is not a dig at Sowal,, but an atttempt to understand how the process can be improved in the future if any changes need to made.

:idontno:

AN often heard comment heard from the candidates as I mmet and talked with them was &quot; Oh - I follow the Sowal postings but No Way I&#039;m posting there any longer. 
 
Should we be concerned that was a mind set or just an excuse ? 
 
I would love to hear your thoughts. 
 
This is not a dig at Sowal,, but an atttempt to understand how the process can be improved in the future if any changes need to made. 
 
:idontno:

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