I woke up this morning thinking about politics. It’s not something I normally do, but I couldn’t shake it. Why? I was realizing that while my job isn’t about politics — it’s about the day-to-day of governance and how the internet can help — it turns out that recent politics might make that a little harder. It has been said that Stop Online Piracy Act (or SOPA) may “break the internet,” undermining the creativity and free expression that has made it not only unbelievably popular, but also remarkably powerful. Now, thanks to a growing movement called Gov 2.0, thousands of people go to work everyday believing the power of the internet to help government, but it turns out the government might just kill the internet. Some appreciation that is.

So I think it’s time we raised the stakes. If the politicians want to get in on this game, they should to be held accountable, and we need an honest debate around the issues. And SOPA is just one of many. The internet is everywhere. Nearly every function of government — ranging from supporting the economy and education, to offering social services and fighting wars — either does already or will soon rely on the internet. So let’s talk about that. Clearly, honestly, and publicly.

So here’s my pitch: a #Gov20 Presidential Debate. Bring the Republican and Democrat candidates together to discuss what the internet means to government and society, and how their administration would leverage it. What makes this interesting to me is that the pressing questions aren’t strictly partisan; transparency is probably a bipartisan issue, and I’d imagine the Republicans might split on immigration & innovation, and the Democrats on, say, downsizing government through tech. Should be fun.

Realizing, as a somewhat reasonable person, that such a thing is unlikely (ok, very unlikely) to happen, I still figured that as an exercise it’d be fun to think of some questions. Here are a handful or so I thought of; share your ideas on the debate and for questions in the comments.

• Do you think the “Stop Online Piracy Act” will hinder innovation and creativity on the internet?
• The Obama Administration created two C-Level tech-focused position: CIO and CTO. Do you think those roles are necessary and would you keep them in your administration?
• We’ve seen that advances in modern technology have enabled companies in the private sector to grow and cut costs. How would you use technology to bring down the deficit?
• Why shouldn’t every document or record created by the government be immediately accessible online?
• In cities, throughout the country, local governments are turning the government as a service provider model on its head, and asking citizens to solve the local problems themselves. How would you apply this thinking to the federal government?
• What would you do to boost entreprenuership in this country? Would you change immigration laws? Provide government seed funding?
• Over 50 countries have joined the Open Government Partnership. Has it produced any real results and can/will it affect foreign policy?

I’ll add that there would be a real expressive value to a debate like this — probably more valuable than the discussion itself. This could serve as validation for the fundamental importance of the web and the role it’ll play in our society. These are exciting time we live in, where there’s tremendous innovation constantly in our lives, and there’s a real opportunity to leverage that in our governments — the institutions designed to serve us all. And strong support from our political leaders would hopefully push forward that process, raise public awareness, and validate the efforts by change-makers both inside government and out.

(Note: everything posted on this site is written in my personal capacity.)