Love and Debate, a great new movie by Virgil Films, is a coming of age story about a Jewish Latina girl, Jordan (played by Gina Phillips) who finds her way through the trials and tribulations faced by teenagers.  Jordan, who grows up in a Jewish household, where the customary role of a woman is to get married to a Jewish man and have kids, aspires to make more of her life than simply what her parents expect.  

In her senior year of high school, with the help of a teacher, Coach Amal (Sean Astin), Jordan joins the debate team and quickly becomes one of the top debaters in the country, earning a scholarship to Harvard for debate. While at college she faces several horrifying experiences, but leverages the power of her mind and the human spirit to overcome the adversity and keep her life under control.

Love and Debate is a great coming of age story about a girl who wants more out of life than simply fulfilling her parents expectations, and leverages the power of debate to exercise her mind and fulfill her dreams.  Everyone can relate to this story, as we’ve all grown up and gone through the trials and tribulations of life and dealt with the tough decisions that life brings.  Also, CreateDebate users can relate to the power of debate and how it allows you to open your mind to new ideas that you have previously not considered. Check out the trailer here.

Movie Giveaway 

To celebrate the release of the new film, CreateDebate and Virgil Films have partnered to give away ten free copies of the movie to the winners of the following contests, which will run through October 9th:

1.  The two creators of the debates with the highest “Debate Scores” during the contest.
2.  The two creators of the debates with the most “Debate Views” during the contest.   Feel free to get creative in marketing your debate.  Post it to Digg, email your friends and family, encourage your co-workers to use it, or any other crazy idea that you can come up with to drive traffic to your debate.
3. Two randomly chosen users who follows CreateDebate on Twitter.
4. Two randomly chosen users who becomes a fan of CreateDebate on Facebook.
5. Top two users with the most points during the contest.

While lawmakers are figuring out how they can take more of taxpayer’s money to give to Wall St. executives, CreateDebate wants to give YOU something free.  That’s why we’re officially bailing out our awesome debaters via CreateDebate’s Mental Stimulus Package.  We will be running three different contests this month, with tons of awesome prizes courtesy of our good friends at Hachette Book Group and ClutchTees.com.

Contest #1- Love is in the Air (February 7th -14th)

With Valentine’s Day coming up soon, CreateDebate would like to share a little love with everyone.  We will be running 5 concurrent contests through Valentine’s Day, and the winner of each contest will get one free copy of all 11 books below.  Winners will be selected for each of the following:

1.  The creator of the debate with the highest “Debate Score” during the contest.
2.  The creator of the debate with the most “Debate Views” during the contest.   Feel free to get creative in marketing your debate.  Post it to Digg, email your friends and family, encourage your co-workers to use it, or any other crazy idea that you can come up with to drive traffic to your debate.
3. Judge’s choice for best debate during the contest.
4. Top 2 users with most points during the contest.

Note:  All debates must be tagged “VDayContest” in order to be eligible for the prizes.  Debates do not have to be about Valentine’s Day, but relevance will be a factor in the judge’s choice contest.

1. Love in 90 Days By Diana Kirschner
2. Sundays at Tiffany’s By James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet
3. Free Yourself to Love By Jackie Kendall
4. The Italian Lover By Robert Hellenga
5. Looking for Mrs. Friedman and Other Really Bad Ideas by Steve Friedman
6. Getting Naked Again By Judith Sills 
7. We Take This Man By Candice Dow , Daaimah Poole
8. Things I’ve Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me By Ben Karlin
9. Sexcapades By HoneyB
10. Love and Other Natural Disasters By Holly Shumas
11. Send Yourself Roses By Kathleen Turner

Contest #2- Celebrating Diversity (February 15th -28th)

February is African American History Month, and CreateDebate is all about diversity. Diversity of thought, age, political party, ethnicity, race, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, and religion are just a few of the diversity attributes that make CreateDebate such a great place.

In honor of African American History Month, CreateDebate will be running 5 concurrent contests through the end of the month and the winner of each contest will get one free copy of each of the 8 books below. Winner’s will be selected for each of the following:

1. The creator of the debate with the highest “Debate Score” during the contest.
2. The creator of the debate with the most “Debate Views” during the contest. Feel free to get creative in marketing your debate. Post it to Digg, email your friends and family, encourage your co-workers to use it, or any other crazy idea that you can come up with to drive traffic to your debate.
3. Judge’s choice for best debate during the contest.
4. Top 2 users with most points during the contest.

Note: All debates must be tagged “AAHMContest” in order to be eligible for the prizes. Debates do not have to be about African American History Month, but relevance will be a factor in the judge’s choice contest.

1. The American Journey of Barack Obama By The Editors of Life Magazine
2. Fledgling By Octavia Butler
3. Stand the Storm By Breena Clarke
4. Red River By Lalita Tademy
5. Keep the Faith: A Memoir By Faith Evans
6. Say You’re One of Them By Uwem Akpan
7. The Shack By William Young
8. The Bishop’s Daughter By Tiffany Warren
   

Contest #3- Show Your Tees (February 7th -28th)

CreateDebate has partnered with Clutch Tees to put some clothes on your back.  Unleash your creativity and help Clutch Tees come up with a new T-shirt design.  Post your original T-shirt idea to the Clutch Tees Debate, and the best design as voted on by the CreateDebate community will win a $20 gift certificate to Clutch Tees.  If they decide to make your T-shirt, then you will receive a $50 gift certificate!

We hope that you enjoy these contests as much as we do!  Best of luck, we look forward to some great creativity in February!

After weeks of campaigning, mudslinging on both sides, maverick-like arguments for and against each candidate, promises of change, and too many late night CreateDebate coding sessions to count, the big question still remains unanswered: who won the CreateDebate Election Book Contest?

Well, the final count is in, and here are the winners. Drumroll please!

Place	Person	Points Earned
1	Kuklapolitan	+ 358
2	Tamisan	+ 333
3	joecavalry	+ 331
4	andsoccer16	+ 199
5	Jamais	+ 157

Congratulations to the winners of these great books from the Hachette Group. We’d like to thank everyone for participating in the contest, hopefully you found it as interesting as we did.

With 3 weeks to go until the election, we’re happy to announce that we’ve teamed up with The Hachette Book Group to offer eleven great Election related books to our most active users.  We will be giving away all 11 of the following books to the 5 CreateDebate user’s who accumulate the most points from October 14th through November 4th.  Per Hachette, this contest is only available for people located in the US and Canada (no PO Boxes please). Each winner will receive one copy of ALL 11 books! (Audio books available instead as a prize where listed.)

1. Mike’s Election Guide By Michael Moore

It’s a great year to be an American and a voter. Don’t miss out on MIKE’S ELECTION GUIDE – the indispensable book that belongs in every American’s back pocket this season.- Also available as audio book  ISBN: 97804465462702.


2. The Preacher and the Presidents By Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy.

Reveals how the world’s most powerful men and world’s most famous evangelist, Billy Graham, knit faith and politics together.- Also available as audio book. ISBN: 97815999510413.

3. Hard Call By John McCain.

In Hard Call, acclaimed authors John McCain and Mark Salter describe the anatomy of great decisions in history by telling the remarkable stories of men and women who have exemplified composure, wisdom, and intellect in the face of life’s toughest decisions.- Also available as audio book.  ISBN: 97804466991124.

4. The American Journey of Barack Obama By The Editors of Life Magazine

Covers the candidate Barack Obama from his childhood and adolescence to his time as editor of The Harvard Law Review and his Chicago activist years, culminating with the excitement and fervor of the historic 2008 Democratic National Convention.  ISBN: 97803160456055.

5. Goodnight Bush By Erich Origen and Gan Golan.

A hilarious and poignant visual requiem for the Bush administration.  ISBN: 97803160404196.

6. Takeover By Charlie Savage

Takeover tells the story of how a group of true believers, led by VP Cheney, set out to establish near-monarchical executive powers that, in the words of one conservative critic, “will lie around like a loaded weapon” for any future president.  ISBN: 97803161180577.

7. Her Way By Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr.

The first truly balanced investigation into the life and career of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr.’s masterful biography.- Also available as audio book.  ISBN: 97803160174358.

8. Dream in Color By Congresswoman Linda Sánchez and Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.

Often considered Congress’s Odd Couple, these warm witty sisters are not only perfect role models for young Latinas in the US, but for all young women looking to break out and create a brighter future for themselves.  ISBN: 97804465080499.

9. From Hope to Higher Ground By Mike Huckabee

In his insightful and plainspoken manner, Mike Huckabee carries hope to Americans and provides practical solutions to current problems in our nation.ISBN: 978159995155310.

10. The Revolution By Ron Paul

In this book, Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul provides answers to questions that few even dare to ask.  ISBN: 978044653751311.

11. What You Should Know About Politics . . . But Don’t: A Nonpartisan Guide to the Issues By Jessamyn Conrad.

The first and only issue-based nonpartisan guide to contemporary American politics.

We look forward to seeing a lot of great arguments supporting your candidates in these next three weeks before the election.

UPDATE:

With only 11 days to go until November 4th, here is how the contest is shaping up:

Contest Leaderboard:
1   Tamisan  +181 points
2   joecavalry  +164 points
3   Kuklapolitan  +97 points
4   Inkwell  +93 points
5   andsoccer16  +67 points
6   waaykuul  +67 points
7   ThePyg  +63 points
8   kirstie1126  +45 points
9   dcool15  +34 points
10 bmountain  +29 points

Remember, only the top 5 users that accumulate the most points will receive a prize!  BTW, wouldn’t it be sweet if you could view a leaderboard like this from the front page whenever you’d like? Stay tuned!