BlueBroward.org

The Sun-Sentinel has begun posting endorsements for the Sept. 5 election, which are worth looking at even if you don’t agree with all of them (I disagree with several, although I congratulate Martin Kiar for getting the nod in recognition of his hard work).

If you haven’t yet made a firm decision in the governor’s race, you might also want to check out the editorial board interviews with the candidates, which they’re presenting as videos.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/elections/

I did find that I had to switch from the Firefox browser to Internet Explorer to get the videos to work properly.

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Just a reminder that the best way to make sure that your favorite club or campaign’s events are posted to the BlueBroward.org Calendar is to do it yourself. I’m strongly encouraging self-service because as the election gets closer, it’s tough for me to keep up with all the requests for listings coming via email.

Any registered member of the website can post events, and they will appear immediately on the Calendar. I reserve the right to edit or delete listings that are not appropriate (we don’t need to be promoting meetings of the George W. Bush Fan Club), but this has rarely been a problem.

Timing is important. This 2-week snapshot of events goes out by email every Sunday morning, so if you wait until Sunday afternoon to post an event that’s happening on Tuesday, you’ve missed out. Between now and the election, I’m also sending out a weekend roundup for which the deadline is noon on Friday.

If you registered some time ago but have forgotten your password, there’s an “Email My Password” option on the Login page. Your “user name” is the email address you used when registering with the web site.

Posting events is supposed to be easy. If you find that it’s not, let me know so I can make it easier. After you enter your password, you should see a list of options that includes “Add event to events calendar.” You can navigate to this menu by clicking the “MyPage Menu” button on the left hand side of the screen (only appears after you have entered your password).

If you are authorized to edit listings for a Democratic group that holds regular meetings, you will also see a link to “Confirm/correct calendar listings for [Group Name].” If you are authorized to edit listings for a campaign, you will see a link to “Post a Campaign Event for [Campaign Name].”

After posting your event, check to make sure it is displayed properly. If there’s a problem, and you can’t figure out how to fix it, feel free to ask for help. Sometimes I can help you make it look prettier or add a link to an online mapping service for directions.

I will continue to post relevant events that I pick up on myself, as time permits, but there’s a lot of truth in the old saying that “if you want a job done right, do it yourself.”

Thanks,

- David Carr, webmaster, david@bluebroward.org

Because this has periodically been the source of misunderstandings, let me say it again: BlueBroward.org does not take sides in races between Democrats, and a campaign or event listing for any particular candidate should not be interpreted that way. If your favorite candidate is not listed on the website, it’s because they haven’t taken advantage of the opportunity, not because I’ve snubbed them. BlueBroward.org is meant to be a “level playing field” between Democrats, a resource that all campaigns can trust to treat them fairly.

This is an editorial policy for the website and does not mean that I don’t have some personal favorites among the candidates, some of whom I’m actively supporting — but privately. Where BlueBroward is concerned, there is nothing I’m doing for the candidates I favor that isn’t available to their competitors. (Although, certainly, I do pester candidates I like a little more to make sure they post their stuff to the website).

One of the things I’m thinking of doing, when I have time to get it organized, is set up some sort of Board of Advisors who could “keep me honest” on this stuff and put a slightly more formal organization behind BlueBroward. But meanwhile I’m doing my best to play it straight.

One other clarification: I list and link to Grassroots Patriots on the website as an “Allied Organization” because I like the work they’re doing to energize grassroots volunteers. However, I’d categorize BlueBroward’s relationship with them as “friendly, but informal.” They’re a completely separate organization with a more formal structure. We try to reinforce each other’s efforts in general, but that’s it.

Clear enough?