AssistOrg has been working with Sustainable Future on a Drupal-based site called Questions for Candidates. Members of the site can send a set of questions to candidates in various races across the U.S. The questions focus on energy policy and climate change. From the site:

The energy choices our nation makes, and the consequences of those, such as global warming, affect all Americans and our collective future. Elections should be an opportunity for a national discussion about these issues, but as any voter knows, we mostly just get stump speeches and soundbites.

The tools on this website were designed to give voters some help in changing this dynamic. Sending the questionnaire to candidates is the first step. The questionnaire makes the substantive case that important issues are at stake, and that they are relevant to a broad cross-section of Americans.

Candidates don’t just drop everything and write answers to questionnaires, though. Voters need to make clear that they want answers, and that’s the second step: reminding candidates to respond. You can send reminders by e-mail, or use the event calendar to find upcoming events where a candidate can be reminded in person. You can also add events to the calendar to help others personally engage candidates.

Questions for Candidates is a great way to jump-start political participation and involve individuals and groups. Hopefully site participants won’t stop asking questions. In fact, someone suggested that politicians probably won’t respond because they won’t want their responses on record; I think failure to respond, when it occurs, speaks volumes about the candidate. This process will demonstrate that voters are wondering, and caring, and will wonder even more if their questions are ignored.