I'm a Delphi programmer from the midwest with a positive attitude! My moderation philosophy would be to give curious question askers the benefit of the doubt when asking questions. I belive Ryan Hayes motto, edit before close, to be an excellent one. By no means would I seek to make the website a free for all, but I would apply the most liberal possible interpretation to the FAQ, while remaining a "strict constructionist" when it comes to the purpose and vision of the website.
I've moderated our company's phpBB3 forum for the past two years (It was a bit hands off, since I deal mostly with friendly nurses). But it taught me two good lessons.
- Be prompt.
- Be thoughtful.
And that's how I'd moderate.
I disagree with most of the intention by the 'powers that be' to drive away subjective, argumentative yet interesting questions. I believe that real questions don't always have answers and that sometimes the best thing we can do is form a list and pick the most appealing answer.
I would only close obvious trolling and spam. Flame bait is good business in my book. For the first time in my life, on this website I was referred to as an spammer, an troller and an anarchist. As a moderator (and in general), I would never condescend to use those terms on someone I thought to be human.
I have been using StackOverflow since it was in beta (user #1765) and I've seen it evolve and devolve and revolve and I like it. I think it is a swell place, filled with awesome people.
The other thing that separates me from the other candidates, is that I am willing to stick my neck out on the line and ask questions. I've asked more questions than all the other candidates combined (sad to say, some have been closed and deleted).
So, in closing.