Live From the VFW

I am sitting at the Major George E. Preddy Jr. VFW post (#2087) near downtown Greensboro, watching the guys at Policlicks.com get ready to go live with their first online debate at 8 PM tonight. Ben Duell, the systems administrator, has been working 16-hour days this week, and now he's cranking video onto the server at a rapid pace. Yes, he'll have a cup of coffee, he just told Policlicks cofounder Ross Myers. Ben's brother, Rob, a managing partner at the new political  forum, seems confident that the next hour and a half will lead to a successful launch of the site's debate room function. Rob is also having coffee; it's old and strong and he likes it. Doug Potocki, another partner, is off setting up a candidate interview. Wait, here he comes, with Cynthia his girlfriend and his kids and poodle. Also, the young company's lawyer, Ralph Gorrell, has arrived. The debate tonight will feature video clips of two candidates for the Guilford County Commission, Jonathan Wagstaff and Jeff Thigpen.  Policlicks learned today that it may be able to feature an online video debate between Liddy Dole and Erskine Bowles, our Senatorial candidates.