An idea on how to make our Election Forum more visible

[Time for change]

How about maintaining a thread in the GD and GDP forums, simply titled "2004 Election Results and Discussion Forum"?

Here's one idea for its content:

Come and take a look at our Forum. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

The "2004 Election Results and Discussion" Forum is inhabited by people who believe that we were disenfranchised by election fraud in 2000, 2002 and 2004 OR who believe that this may have been the case OR who are very concerned about the potential for disenfranchisement through election fraud in future elections.

Furthermore, many of us believe that this is the most serious crisis facing our country today, because if this is not corrected (or prevented) we will soon have so few elected representatives who share our values that little else that we care about for our country or the world will be possible.

The major purpose of the 2004 Election Results and Discussion Forum is to explore constructive ways to deal with this crisis. This includes the following activities:

1) Discussion of ways to prevent or reduce the likelihood of fraud in future elections.

2) Discussion of ways to understand better what happened in the 2004 Presidential election, including the extent of fraud, how it happened, and what effect it had on the election.

3) Discussion of ways to expose what happened in the 2004 election, in order to create a political climate in the United States that is conducive to election reform.

4) Providing of educational information on all of the above.

Important current threads in this forum include:

It will take some thought on how to keep these threads floating above water in the GD and GDP forums. I believe that assignments would need to be given out to kick them every so often and to change the advertised threads and links. And when new threads are started in order to change the links, I think that we would need to delete the old ones, just to make sure that we weren't seen as an irritant.

What do you think about this idea, and what suggestions do you have for improving upon it?

[salin]

1. I would try, instead, a daily update thread

Ala the daily Stockmarket Watch thread in LBN.

List the title of new news items, a link to this forum and that thread, and maybe a sentence or two summary about the item.

That would bring more traffic to the forum, and would get more people reading and commenting on the GD/Pol thread - which would keep it kicked more frequently.

I am not on much during the day, so perhaps this is already being done.

[Amaryllis]

3. Good idea.

[Land Shark]

2. kick

[tiptoe]

4. kicking to see if sig works

:)

[FogerRox]

5. hmmm that might be a good idea-- worth

A
:kick:

[tiptoe]

6. :) maybe a different content

:)

[Time for change]

7. What do you suggest? n/t

[tiptoe]

8. My previous comment about "maybe a different content" was merely to show

the capability and flexibility in using a signature link for purposes of extending visibility of election forum threads and posts. This was in a context of noticing many (most?) members not utilizing a signature at all or, for those that do, not availing themselves of an opportunity to incorporate a link. (The latter may only be a function of never having had a compelling reason to do so, but given the recent DU admin design changes and diminished forum visibility -- particularly for visitors -- of an extremely important national issue, perhaps no option for enhancing access to Election Forum discussions should be ignored. Maybe Peace Patriot's fine post will persuade the admins to make an adjustment in design, if the 83% Poll does not. The issues are too vital for the survival of the Republic -- sine qua non -- not to be kept in the forefront.)

An assessment of the content per se was not implied; just that signature links might be ways to increase visibility by distributing access to Election Forum content from within postings to other forums...without using "...your signature line or avatar image as a means to disrupt the message board..."....I'm still thinking about it.

Anyway, I haven't suggestions just yet for the content, but I agree wholeheartedly with the lead-in.

[Time for change]

9. Ok, I get it -- thank you n/t

[Bill Bored]

10. You mean just put a link to THIS forum in all our sigs?

Welcome to DU tiptoe.

We could also nominate every thread of consequence here so they will all appear on the front page. It only takes 3 votes for each thread, but it's unfortunate we have to resort to such machinations at all.

[Time for change]

17. No, that's not what I meant

I meant maintaining a single thread, on the front page if possible, in the GD and GDP forums, that says something like what I specified in my original post to this thread.

That way it would be visible to most people most of the time, just as if our thread was on the front page as an admin pick.

But in order for this to work, IMO, it has to have the support of a lot of people, so that they can coordinate a plan for keeping the thread on the front page. It doesn't look to me like there is enough support here at this time for this to work.

[bkscribe]

11. good idea, dad.

[MelissaB]

12. Welcome to DU, bkscribe!

:hi:

[autorank]

16. Welcome to DU!!!

For GREAT Election Fraud information, GO TO this link...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=204
...then click on "(Add to My Forums)" just next to the forum name "2004 Election Results and Discussion Forum."

This will display Election Results and Discussion on the "Latest" page whenever you log on and make checking in easier.

:hi:

[Time for change]

19. Yes, welcome to DU bkscribe

I hope you enjoy the many interesting discussions we have here.

[Bill Bored]

13. So what's the real (or official) reason for dissing this forum anyway?

I can only think of a few, in no particular order:

1. Too many exit poll threads.

2. Rude treatment of even friendly dissenters.

3. The DNC or some other party elites think these discussions are counter productive because these people:

a) have a vested interest in keeping the flow of donations moving and want to create the impression that the system is NOT hopelessly rigged against them,

b) honestly believe there was no widespread fraud in these recent elections and that there's no potential for this in future elections,

c) know the system is rigged against them and also know they are powerless to do anything about it since both the election machinery and the present federal government are under Republican control...but they don't want the rank and file to know this (see (a) above).

d) think that there was also Dem fraud or complicity and don't want that discussed or uncovered.

So which is it? Are there others? Has a reason been offered by the Admins?

Maybe someone just forgot to check a box on some screen or something, you know, like when they program e-votin' machines to keep some candidates' votes from being cast or counted. It could be just an oversight, right?

So what's the official story? Has one been offered?

[autorank]

15. Bill, maybe it's because we dis ourselves, i.e., 1 & 2. I like 3 c.

I missed the Bev Wars but I've seen some of it. It's a heck of a lot nicer here now than it was then.

Regarding exit poll threads, there are 25-30 slots on the first page of the forum. The exit poll stuff accounts for 2-3 of the total. That's a bogus reason, if you're serious. If not, it looks like a put down. There are times when people get the short end of it for naive questions but that's after a gazillion nasty trolls are allowed to come in here and spread the nastiest stuff with impugnity. Better control of "visitors" would end that problem.

[Time for change]

18. Here's the official explanation

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=383220&mesg_id=383822

I've seen this noted by a few people.

[autorank]

14. Here are a bunch of tested ideas -- enjoy!!! I do...

1) RECOMMEND ERD threads for "Greatest"...don't just read them and say, wow. RECOMMEND THEM! If you've got something really hot, ask your DU buddies to Recommend. Nothing wrong with that. Greatest gets a lot of visibility and it is so easy to do this.

2) Cross post to GD and/or GD Politics. You just do the same post once or twice. Also consider cross posting to the "Groups." I'm a Clarkie, so, in addition to GD and ERD, I posted this here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=235x7133

3) When you post to GD of GD: Politics realize that you must "grab' their attention. You are competing against many, many more posts than appear in ERD. Here are thread Subject field: Headlines I used that did extremely well. They must be provocative, thoughtful doesn't work.

Here are Subject field/Headlines that did extremely well in GD:

Let’s Get Ready to RUMBLE!!! DEAN to Focus on Election Fraud: OH & FL

WAKE the F*CK UP: **Stop Election Fraud** Advice--Rep. John Conyers,D,M (Note: this one was picked up by a European blog)

End Game: *BUSH is FINISHED. The Script from "Management"
(Note: This was an off-beat post but GDers checked it because it "looked" interesting/appealing from the Subject field/Headline.)

3) Post to GD and then let ERD know with a separate post. And when you post to GD, include ERD materials and references. Here is a post I did on "The Conyers Report" to GD. Note the links to ERD threads at the bottom

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3722954

4) Put an election fraud/ERD tag line at the bottom of your messages when you post. This does wonders. I used to have this

http://www.democrats.org/page/s/contact">Contact the DNC and tell them to do something about Election Fraud

It appeared on all my messages for about six weeks. I received a lot of thank you's in GD and GD Politics for the link. It was heavily used.

Or this, my current tag line: Great Election Fraud Tool
Pick your favorite ERD link or rotate them and insert at the bottom of every post. I check these on other users and generally find something of use or amusement. (just put this in a minimized word document and insert it into your posts as needed)

5) Recruit "newbies" (just put this in a minimized word document and insert it into your posts as needed)

For GREAT Election Fraud information, GO TO this link...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=204
...then click on "(Add to My Forums)" just next to the forum name
2004 Election Results and Discussion Forum.
This will display Election Results and Discussion on the "Latest" page whenever you log on and make checking in easier.

I see less and less "Welcome to DU" for newbies. I think it's a great idea and they'll follow the link and instructions.

6) Learn how to do "Text Links"...it's easy:

The links above are all text based, except the one for newbies. It's easy to do. Here's how.

(I can't show open/closed square brackets, they disappear. They arelocated to the right of the letter "P" on your keyboard.)

a) type ... no spaces, ignore the quotes "open square bracket"link:"
b) insert the link right after the ":"
c) then strip this information from the link -- "http://www." and leave "democraticunderground.com" etc., with all the numbers.
d) at the end of the link, insert one of these "|" (an uppercase "/" not a lowercase "l"
e) type any text you want after the "|"
f) a closed square bracket "]"

No spaces at all in any of the above.

It looks like this. Ignore the quotes and assume no spaces at all (if I use the plain brackets, it will disappear.
"open square bracket"link:democraticunderground.com|World's Best Political Forum"closed square bracket"

You can bold or italicize this on the outside of the brackets in the way you'd normally do text.

[FogerRox]

20. I'm liking the ideas above

We were takien off the front page because other forums were getting more trafffic. With the DSM and ROve & Plame gate getting big, it may be those forums were just getting way more traffic then we are.

[zann725]

21. Yeah, move it back on the front page. Leave "Election 2004" in title.

Since it's now moved to the back, there is literally no "traffic" or visibility. It's quickly losing momentum.

Very disheartening.

NGU

[roseBudd]

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Visit blogs and post comments about how funny www.BushCheated04.com is

Call AirAmerica and talk about how informative www.BushCheated04.com is

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