12 Questions for Candidates

Our political candidates and their parties are not talking about what drives their agendas in ways that I can easily understand. Even candidates for whom I will probably vote are not articulating clearly the convictions that underlie their plans for our nation and what values will guide them as they try to turn their plans into political reality.

Maybe it’s me.

So, for my sake, here are 12 mostly “domestic issue” questions for candidates to which I’d like straight answers. I have tried to state them as fairly as I can–they are not intended to be “gotcha” questions. Candidates’ answers will no doubt raise many follow-up questions. But all of these questions should be answerable in no more than a few words.

1. As an elected representative, do you represent all the people living in the area that has elected you, or only those who voted for you?

2. Do you believe our planet’s climate is changing? If so, do you believe human activity is contributing to that change?

3. Is the availability of health care properly determined by market/economic forces alone? If not, do you think government has a role in assuring health care’s availability to our citizens?

4. When your religious/spiritual convictions are not the same as the constitutional and legal rights of all Americans, do you submit your personal convictions to the general public interest?

5. Should GLBT Americans be accorded the same rights as other Americans?

6. Should considerations of environmental impact help determine the kinds of jobs we create?

7. Is there ever a good reason to raise taxes?

8. Would you consider compromising any of your convictions about deficit spending and the national debt in order to fashion a bi-partisan plan to deal with those issues?

9. Are you concerned about the widely-reported “gap” between the richest and the poorest Americans, and the “shrinking middle class” between them?

10. Is there a role for public and/or private sector unions in America today?

11. Do corporate power and money in elections threaten our democracy?

12. If your opponents and/or their party win this election, will the American republic survive the next 2-4 years?

Could these be more clearly stated? Do you have questions of your own? How could we put them before candidates and get them to respond?