10 Questions for the 2012 Candidates

By ANGELA CANTERBURY

Click to see our 10 Questions for 2012 Candidates

There are a lot of distractions during election season. There are more and more gotcha ads, and increasingly less discussion about what really matters. At POGO, OpenTheGovernment.org and the American Society of Newspaper Editors we spend a lot of time thinking about how our government can be more transparent, accountable, and effective. We'd love to be having conversations with every candidate to help educate them and to inform the work that we do in Washington---no matter the results of the election. Perhaps together we can!

POGO, OpenTheGovernment.org and ASNE have put together some questions we hope will spark important discussions about our government and democracy. These questions cover a lot of ground--on issues ranging from how to balance national security with rights like free speech, how to know who's influencing elections and government policies, how to protect whistleblowers, how to follow the money the government spends, and more. What interests you?

Over the coming days and weeks candidates will be out shaking hands, kissing babies, and making appearances at county fairs, town hall meetings, debates--maybe in your neighborhood. If you have an opportunity to ask a candidate a question, check out the 10 Questions we'd most like to ask in 2012. Then tell us about the conversations you have with candidates about making our government more open and accountable!

Angela Canterbury is the director of public policy at the Project On Government Oversight. Image by Flickr user IowaPolitics.com.

Comments

[Peter Scannell]

The press is not free if it allows itself to be intimidated by government. The press should be stronger as an institution than the individuals within it being threatened.