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Oregon Survivor
March 20, 2001
Suvivor-mania has taken off around the world, drawing in new fans with every episode. While the other television networks have launched the inevitable spin-offs of the show, they can't duplicate the originality behind Survivor. People are even using Survivor terms in everyday conversation; how many times at work have you heard about "voting someone off the island?" It may seem to be hard to come up with a new concept in the spirit of Survivor, but someone has done it, using an unlikely subject: politics. Here comes Oregon Survivor! Now's your chance to get back at your favorite (or not so favorite) Oregon state legislator. OregonSurvivor.com is a website created by a network engineer in Colorado, for a nameless individual who works "somewhere in the government of Oregon." (see the Eugene, Oregon's Register-Guard story here ). The basic idea is that you get to "vote off the island" the members of the Democrat Tribe and Republican Tribe who make up the House and Senate of the Oregon State Legislature. Anyone can vote, and the results are posted on Monday. (Personally, I'm gunning for Jeff Kropf , (R-Sublimity) for his silly bill that would make an "Elvis Day" state holiday...)
Legislators are quoted in the Register-Guard article saying that they will conduct business as usual and not be worried, but maybe they should be. It's nothing new for people to complain about their legislators and rank their performance, but more people complain then actually follow up on them with a letter or phone call to the capitol building. With a Survivor-type spin on the issue, the immense popularity of Survivor might encourage people to take a look, and give their views on performance and political issues. Oregon Survivor is a fun, anonymous way to get back at your legislator, but imagine a site that puts a name with the vote. The Survivor concept is familiar to millions of Americans, and included in that group are a certain percentage that might not normally care about politics. Imagine a site that lets state residents vote off their legislator and be given the opportunity to submit feedback to that legislator, letting them know they are being voted off and the reason for it. While it may be easier to vote someone "off the island" then out of the capitol, it would send a message that people are paying attention and rating their performance. Such a site would allow people who wouldn't normally contact their legislators to do so, and increased public feedback leads to action. I know that if I were an elected official and got voted off, I would want to investigate why there are so many unhappy citizens in my district.
Would such a site be the cure-all for American political indifference? Probably not. People will still not vote, some may not care about politics as long as we don't end up in a nuclear war. Such a site would, however, allow more people to get involved, and to let their legislators know that they want something done or have expectations that should be met, all while using a familiar and to many, a fun way of doing it.
