The Recall Election or "Those
Who Would be King"-Continued

My first thought was to simply compile a list of their web sites. I got the official list from the Secretary of State. It included email address, phone number, address, party affiliation, and occupation.

Then I got a really bright idea. I would not only find their web sites, but also send them a questionnaire to reveal their opinions on matters of primary interest in the recall.

The upshot is that I sent out my questionnaire and by dint of persistence got about 70 responses. I am publishing those responses on this web site and my reactions to them. I am also publishing my contact database on the candidates featuring the most complete list of their web sites to be found on the web!

Of course the logical way to make this information I had gathered available to the greatest number who could benefit from it was to put it on a web site. That meant I had to learn how to do so, ably assisted by someone I employ in my business occupation. I had to learn how to use Dreamweaver, how to acquire, setup and upload to my own domain.

As a side effect, it pushed me to realize my long held goal to make a personal web site containing my writings on a variety of topics, one major theme of which is politics, both practical and theoretical.

I was able to combine the practical political occasion of the recall election by including a question on the legitimate functions of government in my questionnaire. This has an additional practical effect of enabling us to tell what a politician will do when confronted with a new situation or one with institutional implications especially.

It also quickly separates the ‘concrete heads’ from those capable of abstract thought as were the Founders.

Another thing that the questionnaire quickly revealed was whether a candidate could read. About half of the responses missed the point of the question.

Then I pointed out to the candidate what the question meant. Most of them who didn’t get it in the first place, didn’t get it in the second or wouldn’t answer. Weasels are not an endangered species!

I include many of these communications in the comments column of the questionnaire database. They also served to provoke my thought on these matters further or push me to express long held opinions or at least to express them more clearly and forcefully.