Saw this tweet way way back, and RT'ed with the comment; there is a short story in that.
@mwiik Thinking: In the future, candidates for president will advertise "fork me on github" #hacksocietyNot going to write out a full story, most likely, but wanted to get some ideas and hooks down here in case it feels right or triggers something else. Maybe something to pick up in time for NaNoWriMo, or just a fun fragment to look back at a while down the line.
title ideas
the forking election
one man, one fork
don't just vote, push
chars
bob - candidate 1, running for the incumbent party, wants to change it up, but unsure of how far his mandate will hold. Wants to use politico.code [PC] to explore the fringes.
harper - the upstart in the challenger party, pushing for a broader agenda. has a long stint as founder and tech lead behind him, before converting to politics. still dabbles in open source, to keep connected and credible. One of the first ten politicians to structure his platform on politico.code [PC] , and a strong supporter of the vote-platform auto integration
emma - current tech lead for voter engagement at the incumbents, has been an intern in one of harpers start ups, and also at [PC] before getting the current posting. Loves the tech chances the job offers, but unsure about the nuances in the politics of the party.
NN - political hacktivist, loves to challenge politicians on their lack of track record for voting along their stated platform.
scenes
bob office, emma and bob discuss areas suitable for wider testing on [PC]
coffee shop - harper surfing blogs for ideas, new ad campaign, finds discussion with prominent political thinker X and NN, decides to "challenge" NN and his ilk in the campaign - "keep me honest"
(soundtrack; Count Basie, the kid from red bank, opening track on Complete Atomic Basie)
bob launches his [PC] effort just hours before harpers campaign kicks off, making it a feeding frenzy for talkshows, blogs and corridors
(soundtrack; Christina Aguillera, Fighter)
talk show - bob and harper face off, hangout style on boingboing - [PC] goes mainstream, signups skyrockets
challenger party first tier nominee hopefulls finds themselves sidelined, all the debates are about bob vs harper - with [PC] taking center stage
the election sees record particiaption - both of "old school" voters who want their voice heard directly, and by the "new gen" of the [PC] involved activist coder voters
closing scenes, bob and harper watching the buzz as voting closes, blogs, feeds, dashboard from last minute [PC] suggestions
