Questions for Candidates: 2012
January/February 2012
The 2012 elections could be "the most negative in the history of American politics," according to journalist Joe Hagan. How can you engage with the electoral process in this context in a way that promotes dialogue and raises the issues you can about most deeply?
This issue of FCNL's Washington Newsletter provides a framework for engagement, both on specific issues and generally. We provides questions to ask candidates on key issues; ways to engage productively both in person and online; and suggestions on an approach that can help you be an educated, persuasive advocate for peace.
Download the entire issue as a PDF
Article Index
An important part of being engaged is the way you do it. When you ask a question, we encourage you to listen and learn as well as give your opinion, and to acknowledge and speak to that of God in the candidate in the way you ask your question. This approach is grounded in our Quaker practice, and anyone can use it.
Pentagon spending has doubled in the last decade, with contractors getting much of the increase. Under the deficit reduction deal, the Pentagon has to cut back from its planned expansions to a budget close to what it spent in 2007. Will you support cutting the Pentagon budget back to 2007 levels?
Investing early to prevent war is 60 times more cost effective than military intervention after a crisis erupts. Yet Congress has cut funding even for small programs, like the Complex Crises Fund and Civilian Response Corps, that can help prevent violent conflict. Will you support full funding for State Department and USAID programs that help prevent war?
Do you agree with Former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, among others, who argue that the United States should pursue “a world free of nuclear weapons?" If you are in the Senate when the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is brought to a vote, will you work and vote for ratification?
President Obama plans to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan through 2014—or beyond—despite the continuing high cost of the U.S. war in lives and money. Would you support legislation to require a responsible withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan before 2014?
I’m concerned that escalating threats between the U.S. and Iran could lead to war. As former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Admiral Mullen has warned, the lack of dialogue between the U.S. and Iran could easily lead to conflicts that spiral out of control. Will you support direct, one-on-one talks with Iran to prevent violence and nuclear proliferation?
We need a rational immigration system in our country. Right now some employers can’t find the workers they want, and sometimes U.S. workers feel their jobs are threatened by immigration. What kind of comprehensive immigration reform would you support to address these problems?
The federal government heavily subsidizes coal, oil and gas companies. Do you support ending these subsidies while continuing incentives for renewable energy solutions that will protect our environment for centuries to come?
Laws governing election contributions have been around for more than 100 years— all with a goal of keeping our democracy strong by limiting corruption and promoting transparency. Those goals seem to elude Congress in recent years. Would you support a constitutional amendment to give Congress clear authority to regulate fundraising and spending in federal election campaigns?
It is hard to avoid hearing about candidates running for elected office when you read the newspaper, turn on the television or open your email. You may or may not have opportunities to meet the candidates in person, but most of us have opportunities to have our voices heard.
Many candidates are active on Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media, and their campaigns monitor these sites closely to gauge what people are saying. See how you can use the questions in this newsletter to engage with candidates on social media.
Do you want to ask your candidates about drone warfare? Funding the United Nations? Taxes? See more suggested questions here.
