I kinda like this idea, but I would prefer it to be broader – more international. Call it “Elections” or “Electoral Politics”, and encourage discussion about any elections or electoral issues anywhere. If it seems to be working, make it permanent.
I like the idea, but dislike the notion of closing it all and merging it with GD. I think that the forum should be closed, but left up for searching and reference as is.
This would leave an archival record in an easily found place, separate from GD or any other forum. It would be a little capsule of arguments for and against candidates and policies for that particular election year.
I also like that it would be for elections only, and not just a general Politics forum. General politics can stay in GD or the Pit.
I look forward to someday sifting thru the US Election 2010 forum to see if people’s views have changed on anything once the US Election 2012 forum opens!
ISTM electoral politics are inseparable from everyday politics and everyday issues. They are all intertwined, and it is going to be virtually impossible to make reasonable moderating decisions as to where to classify any but the most trivial threads on the subject. Sure, something like the current GD thread on laying odds for the upcoming US elections would fit there (and there aren’t so many that they can’t be easily ignored), but how about discussions about government policies that are often chosen with electoral effects in mind? Hey, there’s even a current GD thread that’s gone into speculation about how the BP oil spill in the Gulf will affect certain pols’ electoral prospects. And which forum would a thread on the mechanics of US elections go - GQ or this new one? Are you thinking of putting political threads in there as well as electoral ones, and if so, lotsa luck separating those out from everything else, at least without using a very cramped definition of politics.
Obviously you’re going to do this anyway, but I think you’ll quickly regret it.
They may decide it’s not working out, but I really doubt they’ll “regret it”. It’s simply too simple to switch it off if they feel like it. I also doubt a little overlapping subject matter will make for some horribly confusing situation.
Like the idea, but 1 suggestion: Could it be made a GD sub-forum rather than it’s own forum?