The deadline has come and gone for the US presidential candidates to respond to a questionnaire put together by The Sanctuary, a web base grassroots community of pro-migrant, human rights, and civil-rights bloggers and online activists dedicated to the enactment of meaningful immigration reform.
We have had our fair share of critics who questioned us and asked who did we we think we were to make such a lofty demand and who did we represent and why should we expect the presidential candidates to answer our questions.
But make no mistake on the impact online activism has on politics in general. As Marisa Treviño noted, in light of the $20 million the Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign are spending to outreach Latino/a voters, “the questionnaire was a bargain.”
It is obvious that the Obama campaign understands this because his campaign has fulfilled their promise and filled out the questionnaire. However, the McCain campaign, aside from the Spanish-language ads, and his trip to Mexico and South America, has yet to fill out our questionnaire.
Taking notice of our frustrations about the campaigns “tip-toeing” and “lip service” on immigration are CNN, XM Radio’s P.O.T.U.S. ‘08, and Huffington Post.
The Sanctuary recently distributed a call for presidential candidates Obama and McCain to answer what the organization called a “comprehensive survey on Latino issues.” Since both candidates have been courting the Latino vote, the Sanctuary editors wrote in a press release, we wanted open and honest information about their positions. “We were tired of seeing the candidates tip-toe around the issues and merely pay lip service. So we created this questionnaire posing specific policy questions for the candidates to answer,” said Sanctuary editor Edmundo Rocha.
During the week, Sanctuary spokesperson and CrossLeft.org founder, Kety Esquivel was interviewed on XM Radio’s P.O.T.U.S. ‘08 and on CNN to discuss the questionnaire, the response from the Obama campaign, and the lack of response from McCain campaign.
There is no doubt that the Netroots phenomenon is still in its infancy. However, it is obvious the Netroots is not limited to general electoral politics; it also incorporates other issues that influence this country. In other words, I and the other founding members of “The Sanctuary” are part of a complex Internet community called the Netroots where the function is really not the sum of the parts but much bigger.
The video of Kety on CNN’s American Morning
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Your critics can suck it – and I hope they are right now. “Presume” to ask questions of people who are asking for your vote? You bet your ass you have a right to expect answers, and I’m glad to hear one candidate has come through.
If it weren’t for people like you and Kety, the public would never get answers. Thank heaven there are citizens who act instead of just sitting around complaining.
Thank you Euphrosyne
Unfortunately, this nation has suddenly fallen into this idea that only professional experts can ask questions. But also as there are people like you have our back, hopefully we can reverse this thinking.
The world is getting flat and that is a good thing. A good example of how things should be working.