Key Questions to Ask Candidates

Question 1: How will you ensure that every child will have the opportunity to receive early childhood education so that every child will have a fair chance to be able to succeed in school?

Question 2: As president, what initiatives would you support, or might you design, which would improve maternal and child health and livelihood around the world?

Asking Questions Online

Candidates and their staffs are watching their social media accounts closely. In this section, we offer sample tweets to get your questions noticed and answered!

How to Ask a Question on Twitter

It’s simple and effective to ask candidates a question on Twitter! Simply send your question to the candidate using his/her Twitter handle.

Keep your questions short and sweet. It’s also a good idea to use one or two hashtags to help ensure more people see your question.

Sample Tweets

Sample Tweet: [candidate’s Twitter handle] Will you #InvestInKids by ensuring all kids have access to #earlyed so they can thrive succeed in school & life?

Sample Tweet: [candidate’s Twitter handle] What programs will you support to #SaveMomsandKids around the world?

Hashtags to Use

#High5forKids
#InvestInKids
#EarlyEd
#SaveMomsandKids

How to Ask a Question in Person

In the lead up to Election Day, candidates are often very accessible. They are out talking to voters at fairs, campaign events, churches and more.

Asking question about kids’ issues is a great way to educate the public attending the events, engage the media who are likely to be following the candidates and to show the candidates that voters insist they put kids first.

So how do you find out where the candidates will be? Here are few tips:

• Read your local paper, including the events and local news pages. Often these pages will post information about candidate events.
• Join a few email lists for the candidates. They often will tell you where they are going to be as they encourage supporters to show up to their events. You don’t need to be a supporter to join their email lists and it’s a great way to hear what the candidates are talking about.
• Sign up on the state political party email lists. You don’t have to declare a party to join an email list and it’s a great way to learn when presidential candidates come to your community.
• Sign up for Google alerts for some of the candidates. You can set it for a specific region so you don’t have to sift through dozens of entries. Instead of signing up for alerts for all 20 candidates, you can select those candidates that you’re most curious about.

Once you know where the candidate will be, it’s time to show up and ask your question! This can feel a little intimidating the first time you do it. Follow these tips and feel your confidence boost:

• Have your question ready. You can use one of our winning questions or create one of your own.
• Introduce yourself, including your town and any relevant facts about you. For example, if you are a student, health worker or have some other connection with these issues, tell the candidate that.
• Arrive early to the event. The early birds get the best spots. You can also scope out the space when you arrive to position yourself where the candidate will exit the stage. The sooner you get to the candidate to ask your question, the better.
• Be assertive (within reason!). Oftentimes candidates are swarmed when they leave the stage. Do your best to stay with the candidate until you can ask your question. A friendly smile will go a long way to you getting close to the candidate to ask your question.

If you actually get to ask your question, let us know! You can either email us at [email protected] or tweet at us at @SCActionNetwork. Be sure to use the hashtag #High5forKids. Also share your experience on your own social media accounts.