A feature you will see regularly on this blog is the "Soapbox Interview." We will introduce you to interesting political voices on the Internet. Today we bring you Chuck Olsen of The UpTake. He's citizen journalism personified.
Continue reading "SOAPBOX Interview: Chuck Olsen of 'The UpTake'" >Weekend Soapbox
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Sunday, April 27, 2008
We heard from many listeners today about Daniel Schorr's commentary -- like many Americans, he's getting a little exhausted from this crazy season of primaries and caucuses. Here's what he had to say on today's show...
Continue reading "Daniel Schorr pines for a National Primary" >
In South Bend, Indiana yesterday, Senator Hillary Clinton challenged her Democratic opponent Senator Barack Obama to join her in a one-on-one "Lincoln-Douglas-style" debate, "I think that would be good for the Democratic Party," Clinton said. Senator Obama declined the offer, saying in a statement "Over the next 10 days, we believe it's important to talk directly to the voters of Indiana and North Carolina." NPR's Don Gonyea joined Liane Hansen to talk about primary politics AND last night's White House Correspondents' dinner.
Jacob Soboroff, Field Vlogger
Earlier this week on Sunday Soapbox we raised the issue of America's extremely low voter participation. Last week my Why Tuesday? colleagues and I visited with Senator Bill Nelson (D-FLA) in his Washington, D.C. office to discuss his sweeping plan to change the way and day we vote, and why he chose now to introduce his plan. Watch the video for his answers.
Continue reading "Senator Bill Nelson hopes to change the way we vote" >
Thursday, April 24, 2008
SUNDAY SOAPBOX welcomes Citizen Journalist and Field Vlogger Jacob Soboroff. Over the course of the next few months, Jacob will be vlogging on stories that focus on the state of the voting system, voter participation and how and why or why not people are participating! Click on his vlog for more!
Coming up on Weekend Edition Sunday, we're working on several political stories including talking to Bill Adair, Washington Bureau Chief for the St. Petersburg Times and Editor of PolitiFact.com. PolitiFact checks on the accuracy of political campaign ads.
Continue reading "Checking the Accuracy of Political Campaign Ads" >
Joshua Levy, Associate Editor, techPresident.com
While many political junkies are used to following election results on the TV, with news anchors reporting the news -- if there is any -- in a more or less orderly fashion, many online politics hounds need a quicker fix.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Faye Anderson, Citizen Journalist
As expected, Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary. In her victory speech, she said: "It's a long road to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and it runs right through the heart of Pennsylvania." Demographics foretold Clinton's destiny. Barack Obama won Philadelphia, Harrisburg and a handful of rural counties with sizable black populations. But Clinton took the rest of the state.
Continue reading "Race has become the Democratic Party's Achilles heel" >
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Thanks for all your comments -- this is an exciting beginning. I'm posting now a conversation our Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving had with Host Liane Hansen this morning. They discussed the upcoming Pennsylvania primary:
Continue reading "Looking ahead to the Pennsylvania Primary" >
Weekend Edition Sunday's Host Liane Hansen introduces our Election bloggers to you. Mindy Finn served most recently as Director of e-strategy for Mitt Romney's 2008 campaign. Joshua Levy is the Associate Editor of Personal Democracy Forum and techPresident, two websites that cover how technology is changing politics, and Faye Anderson is a citizen journalist, blogger and new media consultant.
Faye Anderson, citizen journalist
The Pennsylvania primary is only a few days away. The road to the Democratic nomination runs through a state that is described as "Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Alabama in the middle."
Pennsylvania Turnpike Blues... Tell me which exit shall I choose?
The lyrics seem tailor-made for the dilemma facing Keystone State voters this week -- Singer Kate McGarrigle alerted us to this song, "Pennsylvania Turnpike Blues." It was actually written way back in 1971 by one Alex Shoumatoff. If that name rings a bell, you may know his work better as a journalist for Vanity Fair. He's posted the full back story on the song, a video featuring vintage PA postcards, and thoughts about the song's current significance on the Vanity Fair website.
--Ned Wharton
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Good morning. Looking ahead to tomorrow, here are some of the political stories we are putting together for Weekend Edition Sunday:
** An essay from first-time voter Meghan Scheidemann, a student at Saint Joseph University in Philadelphia. Meghan talks about what's it like to be a first-time voter when the candidate you support isn't the one receiving most of the attention. Here is an excerpt from her radio essay that will air tomorrow on Weekend Edition Sunday:
Continue reading ""I Believe in Smaller Government" -- first-time voter" >
Friday, April 18, 2008
A couple months ago, our social networking guru, Andy Carvin, and I set out to create a new weekend political blog as a way to interact not only with our radio listeners but with YOU on the Web. So we created Sunday Soapbox. It's the Web companion to Weekend Edition Sunday's (WESUN) political coverage. WESUN is a two-hour Sunday morning news magazine hosted by Liane Hansen.
Mindy Finn, Political Strategist
Despite Pennsylvania going from red to purple to blue in the last decade, John McCain has the momentum in the state as the Democratic candidates prepare to go head-to-head in next week's primary. Why does McCain lead, and will his lead last?
Joshua Levy, Associate Editor, techPresident.com
Everybody's talking about polls. This week new polls are putting Barack Obama up to ten points ahead of Hillary Clinton among Democrats. But online search trends show a different picture.
Monday, April 14, 2008
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