The ABC debate was bad. Perhaps the fourth estate failed to serve its constituents. So what happened? In true Fifth Estate style, 22 Democratic mommy bloggers banned together to form the MOMocrats. MOMocrats asked the Democratic Presidential candidates the questions we all wish reporters or moderators had asked in any interview or debate.

Yesterday, Senator Barack Obama sent back his answers to the MOMocrats’ questions. This is the latest example of the influence political blogging groups are showing in the presidential campaign, and demonstrates how when the contemporary media fails to serve, new media calls them to the mat, or trumps the old with a better service.

In true crowdsourcing fashion, several of the MOMocrats took time to answer some questions about their Democratic hutzpah. Participants include Glennie Campbell, Julie Pippert, Debbie, Jaelithe, Cynematic, Sarah Granger and LawyerMama. Erin Kotecki “Queen of Spain” Vest coordinated. You can meet all of the MOMocrats here.

BB: Why are the MOMocrats trying to interview the Democrats?

Glennia:  Most of us are media junkies.  Unfortunately, the more we watch, the more disillusioned we’ve become with the media and the campaign’s ability to answer questions that matter most to people.  Campaigns are driven by polls, but who is creating the questions?  How do they know they are asking the right questions?  We think that the only way to get to the heart of the matter is to hear from the candidates themselves.  Many of us have been to fundraisers and rallies and had that opportunity, but not everyone has.  We hope to ask the questions that are important to us, as mothers and as citizens.

Julie: Our mission is to get a Democrat in the White House. The real question is why we want that. Our questions to Obama are a big clue. We’re concerned about the state of the union: food and gas prices are escalating to crisis points for many middle class budgets; the percentage of uninsured children is unacceptable to us especially as mothers (and since this is Uninsured Children Week, this is a big highlight point right now); the environment is polluted and we worry not just for the health of our world and children in the future but also in the now; the war is bankrupting our coffers, indebting us to foreign nations and stealing a generation of young people, and so on. The Republicans have made a commitment to maintain the status quo. This will not work for us. The Democrats promise needed changes. Therefore, we are rallying our talents, abilities and energy to get a Democrat elected.

Debbie:  We’d like to get a Democrat elected in November.  If we’re going to assist in making that happen, we need more substantive information than what the latest ABC pretend-debate provided.  We’re all mothers, but we’re also people, and we’re aware of the country’s current precarious status.  The better informed we are, the better to educate the rest of the country.  Just what you’d expect from a good mom, really.

Jaelithe: We at MOMocrats want what most concerned, informed voters want: clear information from political candidates about important policy issues that affect the daily lives of American citizens.

As voters, we believe we have the right to ask serious questions of the people who want to lead our country, and receive substantive answers. And as mothers, we are particularly interested in addressing some key areas of concern that we feel don’t always get adequate  attention in the mainstream media. We are concerned about education, health care, and the environment. We are concerned about creating family-friendly workplaces. We are concerned about promoting product safety.

We want to know what the presidential candidates plan to do to make the world a better place for families now, and a better place for our children to inherit in the future.

Cynematic: We have questions; MSM was too slow or inattentive to provide answers from the candidates. They’re ratings driven. We’re not. We can focus on substance.

Sarah: We just want to hear their answers - even if they’re canned - vs. spin lopped on top of them by TV stations or anybody else.  Politics is about a personal connection.  There’s a reason they go to every coffee shop in New Hampshire - it’s to connect one-on-one, in a personal way.  We’re just trying to do that in an online forum.

BB: Do you think the big media outlets have failed Americans?

Glennia:  For the most part, yes.  It’s frustrating to watch a debate where a candidate is just getting into the nitty-gritty of a policy issue, only to be called for time, interrupted by a commercial, or by some inane media-created “controversy.”

Julie: Yes. If you read Elizabeth Edwards’ recent New York Times editorial (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/opinion/27edwards.html), you’ll see that she says, “A report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy found that during the early months of the 2008 presidential campaign, 63 percent of the campaign stories focused on political strategy while only 15 percent discussed the candidates’ ideas and proposals.”

Debbie:  We believe that we can fill a void that big media cannot; a direction connection between the candidates and the citizens of this country, something that big media seems mostly incapable of.  We’re not well-placed journalists hunting for a salacious story; we’re concerned citizens – we’re participating, not based on our job description, but for the sake of our communities, for the health of our country.  It makes a difference.

Jaelithe: We think the big media outlets tend to focus far too much on the trivial and the sensational, to the detriment of serious discussion about the issues that really matter in terms of improving the everyday lives of people in this country. We don’t want to hear about Obama’s bowling score, or Clinton’s choice of drink at a local bar. We don’t want to hear endless discussions about flag pins. We want to hear about how the candidates plan to address the global food inflation crisis. We want to hear about what the candidates plan to do to slow global warming. We want to hear more about their health care plans, and more about their plans to improve the public school system.

Cynematic: I personally think this year we have a perfect storm of harmful triviality: a shift in tv news generally that makes “infotainment” and the journos who toil there slaves to the ratings; the Writer’s Guild of America writer’s strike earlier this winter, which seriously dented the 2008-2009 narrative tv season and sank many broadcasters’ bottom lines for 2008 Q1 and Q2; the “horse race” aspect of hotly contested, and historic, presidential candidate races that are exciting. Throw in negative campaigning by the Democratic candidate in second position, a voracious 24-hour news cycle, and the result? A worse than usual echo chamber of nonsense. TV is often a terrible way to get news, or to decide what candidate you’ll back.

Print in my opinion does a better job. Public radio also provides good information.

BB: Has social media just done a better job of fulfilling special niches and demographics like Democratic Moms who blog?

Glennia:  Absolutely.  Using social media, we form communities.  We may not live near each other, but we read blogs that resonate with our experiences as mothers and as voters.  Some things are transcendent.  We read things that are far different from our own experience and learn from it, and are able to open a dialogue with the other blogger.  Social media allows us to question and analyze in a way that was not available to us before.
Julie: Social and targeted niche media can do a better job of fulfilling special niches because that’s their raison d’etre.

This doesn’t make them—us—better than traditional media.
It does make us a jet ski whereas they are more of a cruise ship, though. We can stop, turn, change, alter and respond more minutely and rapidly.
We do believe that once big media takes a moment to reflect, they will want to flip their statistics from 63% gossip and 15% news reporting to 63% news and issue reporting.

They still won’t be a jet ski, though. The ocean is big enough for both, though, and we ought to all keep that in mind. There are very successful models of big media and social media working together.
People wanting general reporting will happily peruse big media, and Democratic moms who relish the combination of parenting and politics and are politically savvy and knowledgeable will be very happy to find MOMocrats.

Debbie:  Because, again, we are participating out of concern and care for the future of our country, certainly, social media has provided a platform that larger media cannot in regards to communication about social issues.  The back-and-forth is such a basic element of coming together as communities, something totally lacking in one-sided reporting, news stories, and the like.

Jaelithe: Social media certainly gives voice to a broader spectrum of views than people had access to in the past. But, really, how much do Democratic Moms really qualify as a “niche” group? There are a surprising number of mothers in this country. Everyone in the world has a mother, after all. And there are also good number of Democrats. So it stands to reason that there are probably a great many mothers out there who are also Democrats. Everyone used to talk about the need to capture the “soccer mom” vote. But how much time do most politicians really spend talking TO mothers, instead of AT them?  We are hoping to establish a constructive dialogue.

Cynematic: Social media has really enabled like-minded people to find each other faster, for one. But there’s an interesting brew happening when you mix communities and information, whether it’s at MSM or reliable netroots/blogosphere news organs, and whether the latter are aggregators of repurposed and original material like Huffington Post or enterprised, original reporting like Talking Points Memo. Both HuffPo and TPM incorporate blogging, comments, and citizen journalism in really exciting ways. I feel we’re part of that vibe, just more on the op-ed side of the spectrum.

BB: What did Obama’s willingness to answer tell you?

LawyerMama:  That he’s listening to us in a way many other politicians are not.  Most of us have been trying to get politicians to listen to us, the “Mommy bloggers,” for years now.  I wish it hadn’t taken Obama quite so long to start listening, but at least the dialog has begun.  Just the fact that he’s listening to real people tells me something about how he’ll be as President.

Glennia:  For Obama, we are an important voting group he needs to woo.  We are educated women, usually a Hillary stronghold.   As moms, we’ve  been pigeonholed in the past as “soccermoms” or “Security Moms.”  We’re not a monolithic block, and it is important for campaigns to understand that.  What we have in common is our dedication to our children and making sure that their lives are happy and secure.  Being part of the political process is part of that.

Julie: He is truly a man of his word: he relates to and wants to relate with the average citizen. He stands behind his assertion that the people drive this nation.

Debbie:  That Senator Obama was willing to respond to us, given that our group is so often denigrated simply on the basis of being mothers and women, reveals much regarding his respect and concern for women and mothers.  It’s refreshing to note that.

Jaelithe: It shows Obama is willing to put his money where his mouth is when it comes to focusing on the concerns of ordinary citizens, at least to the extent that he is willing to listen carefully to questions from voters, and give real, substantive answers.

Cynematic: Hey, we’re both Soccer Moms and Rocker Moms, here at MOMocrats!  We knew Obama was already web-friendly–just look at how he’s taken Howard Dean’s netroots organizing and fundraising to 2.0. His Blueprint for Change specifically mentions extending broadband access to help revitalize rural communities and to use web accessible databases to shed “sunshine” on lobbyists’ contributions, legislators’ earmarks, and their voting records. So I think he has a tremendous orientation toward and appreciation for social media’s potential to be political media, as part of bringing the democratic process–and the “marketplace of ideas”–into the digital age.

By taking our questions seriously, perhaps he saw the chance we offered through MOMocrats to speak to voters directly about our concerns, as opposed to the many missed opportunities to do so at the ABC News debate. Plus, every mom votes for two–yourself and your kid (or more, depending on how many kids you have). He gets the interwebz, and that we women are on it.

Why not answer our questions? If he becomes president, he’s proposed a five-day period before signing bills where the public can participate via email/comment board in discussions about pending legislation. I see it as the “we” part of the dialogue in “Yes we can.”

BB: Will Hillary follow suit now? Or is it too late?

LawyerMama:  I think she’ll bow to pressure and answer our questions.  It’s never too late.  But personally, I’m disappointed that she didn’t take the mothers seriously initially.

Glennia:  To be fair, we didn’t have the right information on who to contact until recently.  I’d like to give them some time to get the right people to take a look at the questions.  I hope they answer.  We will give them equal time if they do.

Julie: It’s not too late, our invitation is open and we sincerely hope she takes us up on it. This is a big opportunity for her to show she does relate to the average citizen.

If she contacts us in person and does a live interview, she may even score more points.

If we kept points, which we don’t. We leave that to big media aka the gossip girls. We just want to hear answers to our questions, the ones we wish big media had asked in the ABC debate.

Debbie:   It’s certainly not too late, and we’re holding out hope that she will do just that.

Jaelithe: We would love to hear from Senator Clinton. It was always our intention to direct our questions to both candidates. We are very pleased that the Obama campaign responded so quickly.

Sarah: We’re getting in touch with the people we know in the Clinton campaign.  We know they are interested in reaching out to women and moms, but this isn’t traditionally the type of thing the campaign has engaged in which makes it a great opportunity for them, but it also means they may need some time to decide whether to participate.  We hope they do (especially those of us who are Clinton supporters.)  

BB: Will you give McCain an equal opportunity even if he is a Republican?

LawyerMama:  In my book, McCain is welcome to take a crack at the questions.  I would love to hear his plans regarding poverty, affordable housing, healthcare, and the mortgage crisis.  As long as I don’t simply hear the words “let the market correct it” or “I don’t understand economics” in his answer, I’ll give him a chance.  But honestly, I don’t think he would touch many of our questions with a ten foot pole.  I think Senator McCain, and many other Republicans, would like to pretend that we all begin life on equal footing when those of us living in the real world know that private corporations can’t fix everything.  It comes down to what he believes the role of government is.  I think most of the MOMocrats, and most Democrats, believe that it is our duty to step in where life doesn’t give you a lucky break.  And yes, that’s what poverty is for many, an unlucky happenstance of birth.

Glennia:  I agree with LawyerMama. We will be sending him our questions and post his response.  I don’t expect much.  I am pretty sure he will disappoint me with the torture question, since he has already flip-flopped on that one.

Julie: Senator McCain invited us and others to participate in a conference call about health care. One of the Momocrats (Donna) did join in and will be writing her thoughts about that this week. We would enjoy the opportunity to pose questions to Senator McCain.

Debbie: We’re absolutely interested in how Senator McCain would respond to our questions.  He’s welcome to do so.

Jaelithe: Ditto what Debbie said. Even though our question post was inspired by the Democratic debate, Senator McCain is welcome to answer our questions and we would certainly post his responses.

Cynematic: Absolutely. We bring the informed questions. He’s welcome to bring substantive answers.

BB: What’s next for the MOMocrats?

LawyerMama:  World domination.  Oh, and we’d also like 7 passes to the Democratic National Convention, please.

Glennia:  What she said.  Oh, but first, a  podcast and possibly a  TV show.  Then world domination.

Debbie:  Don’t forget the MOMocrats-themed furniture line.

Jaelithe: And MOMocrats collectible plates.

Cynematic: Growing our audience of politically-minded, informed, and involved parents. Bringing sexy back to wonk. Providing policy analysis and political commentary you can read and digest at those 4 am feedings/diaperings: honey, BTDT. Promoting a thriving civic culture and voter literacy–you know, all that Jeffersonian “educated and enlightened populace” stuff. Getting a Democrat in the White House…for the next 16 years if not longer. Oh, and make that 20 blogger journalist passes to the DNC. There’s a lot of us!