Believe It: How a Little Video Blog Powered the Agenda for Election Reform

A cheap camera, dogged determination, and a smart video blog strategy has created a national dialogue about election form in the United States.

At the Personal Democracy Forum in New York last week, I interviewed Jacob Soboff, who created the Why Tuesday advocacy campaign.  The organization set out to change the national voting day from Tuesday to the weekend in an effort to build greater voter participation.

Without press credentials or special access, Jacob managed to tape segments with all of the 2008 presidential candidates and created tremendous attention for the election reform movement.

Although not much has happened in changing election day, the campaign has raised considerable attention for the subject which had been largely ignored.  Let's hope the effort continues.

You can find this post on Beet.TV.

Andy Plesser, Executive Producer

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Comments

[S1m0n]

Both Saturday and Sunday are holy days for (different) major religions; religions which are at present in something of a conflict. There is no way to select either one without grossly alienating at least one of these groups. This idea blows.

[gschear]

I'm all for Sunday if it keeps the wingnut fundamentalists from voting but some how I think that after some tax exempt status voiding political preaching, the church buses will fire up and the flock will be delivered to the polls as per usual except that there will be more secular voters there as well.

[gschear]

Early and absentee voting are all ready doing a good job of increasing turnout. These will be available for magical thinkers as well. In fact they could all bring their ballots to church, temple , or mosque and fill them out all the same according to whichever candidates and policies their particular God and his current divine prophets and assorted minions support. Amen

[audiodramatist]

Okay, let's do this. Right now, with all the things we are doing to change our democratic circumstance, we really need to put this movement in our top three things to support for the next 6 years.