Time is running short before the July 13 election to determine who of the three candidates — David Esrati, Guy Fogle, and Joe Roberts — will be the Democrats’ choice to run for Congress representing Ohio’s 3rd District, challenging the incumbent, Mike Turner.

Live-streaming requires a powerful, and expensive, system and such a system is called a T1 system. To pull together the internet debate / colloquy I suggested, I need to find a location that has a T1 connection.   I have two possibilities (explained below) and I should know by tomorrow (Thursday) if either will come through.

David Esrati and Joe Roberts have agreed to participate in such an event, and I received the e-mail below from Guy Fogle:

Mike:  My schedule is booked the next three days.  Also, I doubt there is an interest among folks in the community.  I agree with David’s comment about numbers. There were only 8 total in the audience at the last debate not affiliated with any of the three candidates.  Afterward, five said I was their guy, one said David, the other left before I could speak with him.  I did speak to Nicole and said I was clearly the strongest of the three.  Anyway, time is an issue.
Guy

And here is my response to Guy:

Guy,

I would not expect a large crowd to show up — the idea is to reach a whole new subset of people who would watch and participate via the internet.  I am looking for a location that has the T1 internet connection that would support live-streaming.  If I can find such a location, the idea would be to advertise in the DDN and on the internet and try to bring in a whole new group of internet viewers and participants.  Hopefully we would get a whole new set of people who would send us an e-mail and who would make a donation to a fund.  As I explain in my DaytonOS post, the thought is that the fund would be used to promote the creation of you-tube videos.

I’m trying to find a location that might have T1 capacity.  I’m learning that T1 connections have a cost of over $10,000 per year, so, I’m sure the cost is prohibitive for many organizations.  I have a call into an AFL-CIO manager named Ken Woolums and he is checking to see if he can find a location.  And I have a call into the president’s office at Sinclair College to the president’s assistant, Madeline Iseli.  I should know by tomorrow if either of these possibilities pan out.  If we can find a location, I’m thinking that I will try to organize an event for the day before the election, Monday, July 12.  That may not be an ideal time, but, if we can get this going, I think it would make a good precedent and I think it would be worthwhile in helping to  launch a strong challenge to Mike Turner.  I will keep you informed.     Mike

And here is my e-mail to Madeline Iseli, assistant to the president of Sinclair College:

Ms Iseli:

My name is Mike Bock.  I am a retired high school teacher, who, in 2006 became active in the local Democratic Party.  I am a member of the Montgomery County Democratic Party Executive Committee.

Next Tuesday, July 13, is the Special Democratic Primary to choose the person who will be the Democratic candidate for Congress for Ohio’s 3rd District, challenging the incumbent Republican, Mike Turner.  There are three men who will be on the ballot — David Esrati, Guy Fogle, and Joe Roberts.

I have contacted the candidates and they have agreed to participate in a discussion / debate, with the idea that the event would be advertised in advance and live-streamed over the internet.  I explain the idea here https://daytonos.com/?p=9088.

I am looking for a location we could use that would have the capacity to do such live-streaming.  What is needed is access to a T1 line.  We have the camera and other equipment that is needed.

Of course, we have no money, and so we are looking for a way to do all of this for free.

I am hoping that Sinclair might see facilitating this event as a public educational event and will make your facilities available as a service that is in keeping with your general mission of public education.  I’m wondering if perhaps a communications department or a government studies department might see this as an educational opportunity for students.

We would not expect a large crowd — so we do not need a huge space — a conference room should be large enough for the 40 or 50 people who might show up.  We are flexible as to when the event might be scheduled, but I’m thinking that Monday, July 12, would be best.

I spoke to your helpful assistant who suggested I send this e-mail, and make a request for using Sinclair’s facilities.  I will telephone back later this afternoon, or you may reach me at 298-8703.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Mike Bock

To: Democratic Candidates 3rd District — David Esrati, Guy Fogle, Joe Roberts
Re: Let’s plan another debate

I am hoping that sometime prior to July 13, when Ohio’s 3rd District Democrats choose their candidate to oppose incumbent Republican Mike Turner, that the three Democratic candidates will agree to come together to have a meaningful debate. The June 30 League of Women Voters debate is not enough. The LVW format — two minute answers to random questions — I feel, actually disincentivizes any prospect of serious discussion among the candidates. My own experience as a participant in a LWV forum as a candidate for the Kettering School Board allowed me to see how unsatisfying the experience is from a candidate’s point of view.

The meaningful debate, I am hoping still can come together at this late date, as I see it, would seek to accomplish several goals.

1. Revealing to the public that Dayton Democrats are thoughtful, informed, inspiring, visionary people  — united in their zeal that Mike Turner must be defeated.
2. Revealing to the public that 3rd District Democrats are using technology to create democratic processes.
3. Unifying the party’s base into making a united and vigorous effort to defeat Mike Turner.
4. Raising money to offer for prize money and for funding You-tube type videos centered on making the case of why Turner should be defeated.
5. Helping to clarify for Democratic voters which candidate, among the three, would be the best choice to challenge Turner.

The idea is that the debate would be broadcast live over DaytonOS.com and Esrati.com, and any other web-site that might carry it, and part of its message would be an appeal for watchers to contribute money, via PayPal, to a You-tube campaign.

My idea is that we should bring back a Lincoln Douglas type format, one where, rather than a flurry of questions, the number of questions is reduced to just one, a format where a participant would have sufficient time to develop his or her ideas and time to give thoughtful response to the ideas of the other participants.

I propose that this be the topic for discussion: Why Mike Turner should be defeated and why I should be chosen to be the Democratic challenger.

I like the idea that, although the three candidates are in competition to gain votes, the three would encourage and support each other in making the case why Mike Turner should be defeated.  The whole exercise could simply be a discussion of leadership.  What it means to lead, how, if elected the challenger would lead, and how Mike Turner has failed to lead.  I like the Senate term for structured discussion:  colloquy.

The format I’m suggesting is 57 minutes — which, with breaks, would mean at least a 65 minute program.

1. Candidates decide through a random process who should be Candidate A, Candidate B, Candidate C
2. Each candidate make introduction 2 minutes each (6 minutes)
3. Three colloquy’s, each centered on one candidate at a time, with the other two candidates reacting — each colloquy 13 minutes each (39 minutes)
4. Individual Summaries 4 minutes each (12 minutes)

Here is my suggestion as to how the 13 minute colloquy might work — This one centers on Candidate A:

Candidate A       4 minutes

Candidate B and Candidate C discuss Candidate A’s remarks      3 minutes
giving each other equal time

Candidate B and Candidate C ask Candidate A questions and A gives answers      6 minutes.