Frist and Nickles — is this the best the Repubs can do for Senate leadership? I say, keep trying Shrub…
I had my first experience with Google Answers over the weekend.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how Google Answers could be used for the public good: considering all of its answers are made public and searchable. This means, when one of us pays $10 or $20 to have a question answered, we can all benefit from the results.
So I thought I would try a little experiment, and signed up for the Google Answer service.
I haven’t send Google Answers my feedback yet — what do you think of its answer?
Saturday evening, at 10:25 PM (on 12/21/02) I submitted this question:

Of the top four contenders for Republican Senate Majority Leader, which have
the worst voting record on civil rights? (With specific examples.)

I had my first experience with Google Answers over the weekend.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how Google Answers could be used for the public good: considering all of its answers are made public and searchable. This means, when one of us pays $10 or $20 to have a question answered, we can all benefit from the results.
So I thought I would try a little experiment, and signed up for the Google Answer service.
I haven’t send Google Answers my feedback yet — what do you think of its answer?
Saturday evening, at 10:25 PM (on 12/21/02) I submitted this question:

Of the top four contenders for Republican Senate Majority Leader, which have
the worst voting record on civil rights? (With specific examples.)

When I subscribed to the service, I checked the box that said “E-mail me whenever there is new activity about my questions.” (They also had an option that would never email me more than once a day with updates, but I’m curious and wanted to know about all of my updates as they happen.)
I looked at the pricing guidelines and decided that my question weighed in at about 20 bucks. (It would easily take someone a half hour and was sort of a compound question in the sense that you had to find one part of it out before you get going on the other. At the same time — the question certainly wasn’t too complicated, and it was arguably a fun question. So I left it at $20.)
At 11:37 pm, I received a “Google Answers Activity Report,” asking me to please clarify my question.
So I clicked on the link, and saw that this question had been asked of me:

Request for Question Clarification by mvguy-ga on 21 Dec 2002 22:49 PST
At this point, it doesn’t appear there are four top contenders;
according to news reports, Sen. Bill Frist has support from a majority
of the GOP senators for the position, a majority that includes at
least two others who had been considered contenders. Perhaps you
could name the four senators whose voting records you’d like to know
more about, or perhaps you would like to know more about Frist’s
record. Thanks.

To which I replied at around 11:50 pm:

Clarification of Question by xmlrein-ga on 21 Dec 2002 23:51 PST
I understand that Frist is in the lead — but I was not aware that he
is considered to have no competition at this point.
I was thinking of going down the ladder in popularity (From Frist, to
Nickles, to #3? and #4?) — that’s where I got my “top four
contenders.”
If you’re saying there’s no contest, then, sure, let’s concentrate on
Frist.
Thanks!

When I woke up in the AM, my question had been answered for me.
It came in at 3:37 AM. (Not bad!)
Here is the answer:
Subject: Re: Republican Leaders and Civil Rights
Answered By: easterangel-ga on 22 Dec 2002 02:47 PST
Hi! Thanks for the question.
It is true that at this point (Dec. 22) and as of the writing of this
answer, there are indeed two contenders for the Republican Senate
Majority Leader Sen. Frist as the front runner with Nickles coming in
second. Due to the withdrawal by Sen. Lott both are now considered
likely prospects. But like Lott both have been criticized and have
been said to be his mirror images when it comes to civil rights voting
records.
In this National Organization for Women article it provides examples
of the civil rights issues voted upon by Sen. Frist. He voted against
the following issues:
1. Sex education
2. International family planning
3. Emergency contraception
4. Affirmative action
5. Hate crimes legislation
6. Employment Non-Discrimination Act