News-Record.com

"More about their true religious convictions and how those convictions would or would not influence their decisions in the White House," another said.

"How they stand on workers rights, environmental issues and the war," said a third. "Their political background, especially how they voted on issues in the past, is extremely important."

In all, the readers cited 11 different issues, from abortion to Homeland Security, but by far, the most interest was in the candidates' positions on health care, the economy and the Iraqi war.

We will cover those issues and others over the next two months. (If you are interested in joining the reader network, send me an e-mail and I will get you signed up.)

Not surprisingly, several readers complained about the negativity and mud-slinging that have already infused the campaign. Talk about change; limiting that would be a nice one.

"I'm pretty much already overwhelmed and tired of the publicity and coverage they have received thus far," one reader said.

Unfortunately, personal attacks are as much a part of politics as bumper stickers and yard signs. We will not shy away from that part of the campaign, but I doubt it will be the centerpiece of our coverage many days.

Instead, today's front page story by staff writer Gerald Witt on the impact of the Internet on political campaigns marks the launch of our Voterspeak project.

Voterspeak is a citizen-focused effort that uses both online and the newspaper to engage voters on local and national issues. Here’s how it works:

Over the summer, we solicited applications for our Voterspeak citizen panel. From that pool, we selected 10 members, using diversity of age, gender and race as a guide. We also purposely made the panel reflective of party affiliation in Guilford County. (This is a different group that the reader advisory network I mentioned above.)

Twice a week, we will ask the panel to comment on an issue in the news. and the answers will be posted at News-Record.com/voterspeak on Tuesdays and Fridays. We encourage you to voice your opinion on the topic there, too. Edited versions of the conversation will be published in the newspaper Wednesdays and Saturdays.

While the presidential election is hot now, topics for discussion will also include the Hagan-Dole race and the local bond referenda. You can also suggest one. I hope you will join in on the discussion at News-Record.com.

We will add other election-related features to both the newspaper and News-Record.com in the days to come, including video interviews with the primary candidates in the U.S. Senate and N.C. gubernatorial races. Look for them. And feel free to let me know about issues we need to write about.