As the presidential debate process marches on and the issues seem to get less and less attention lets attempt to get some book energy in the mix.
I propose the great Presidential Book Debate of 2008.
All the candidates are positioned in front of shelves filled with books from their library. The moderators can be drawn from the deep pool of writers, reviewers, bloggers and librarians whose world revolves around the printed (or digital) word.
Potential questions:
What is your favorite book? (Republicans must give a back up when choosing the Bible)
What has the been the most influential book on politics that you have read?
What was your favorite book as a child?
One of the major issues facing our country is how do we respond to climate change. As you are aware under the Bush Administration funding for the EPA libraries has been reduced and access to the vital information contained therein has been severely restricted or eliminated and quite possible destroyed. It would seem that access to this information is as important as ever. What would you do to address this issue?
A recent study have shown that reading levels are at critical levels in this country, one in four Americans did not read a single book in the last year. In his recent interview with the New York Times Apple founder Steve Jobs went as far as to say “People don’t read anymore.” As President how will you invigorate reading in America?
If you had the chance to meet and have a drink with one literary figure who would that be and why?
I know how a candidate responds to these questions would seriously influence my vote.
Previous Book Patrol posts:
The Real Presidential Libraries in which I recommend that all candidates should as part of their campaign strategy have a page on Shelfari or one of the other book social networking sites like LibraryThing or Goodreads.
What’s Your Candidate Reading which covers the AP story where they did in fact ask the candidates what book fiction they were currently reading.
What The Candidates Should be Reading which features Ron Paul’s reading suggestions for Rudy Guiliani.