E-mail Interview |
In a February 3, 2003
e-mail Herrick responded to several questions:
> -When did you put the site up? According to my management
screen, October 15, 2002.
> -Was there a specific incident that prompted you to launch the site? A self-organized group of
us had been discussing how to promote the idea of Cynthia for Green Party
candidate, and I volunteered to put up a website. So far, it seems
to be one of our more successful ventures, though it's never mentioned
in articles about her and us. It does well on Google, though.
> -Have you done anything like this before, i.e. taken the initiative to launch some political effort? Well, yes and no. I've been
intensely active in the Green Party, and even sat on the Coordinating Committee
of the national party during the Nader campaign. I took considerable
initiative there - on internal issues. But I've never been a public
figure, and never particularly wanted to be. Heck, I didn't even
meet Ralph until well after Election Day.
> -Are there any interesting anecdotes in relation to your development of or running of the site? No particular incidents jump
out. But I've been pleased to see that people are dropping by to
leave comments. There have been one or two things that were patently
offensive, which I deleted. I make no apologies for that. But
things that are criticial-but-reasoned, I leave up.
> -What have you learned from putting up this site? That open source, and Zope in particular, rules! :) Aside from that, I've learned that there are a lot of people out there who give these kinds of things a lot of thought, whether they are pro or con. If you give people a platform, you discover they're a lot more aware and lucid than the corporate media would have you think. |
Copyright © 2003 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.