Candidate forums make would-be politicians more accessible to the public, but the necessity of time limitations forces participants into either speaking in soundbites (shallow) or being cut off, mid-sentence. The conversation is also framed in an utterly predictable way– crime, taxes, and economy. Each of those issues is important, yet discussion is often limited to just those things.
The framing of the questions far too often implies that what exists is broken; not everyone buys into that.
I have contacted those who seem like serious candidates; when I have spoken with all who took the time to respond to my request, I will begin publishing these.
Who is a viable candidate? That’s debatable, but I consider those who have no campaign website, Facebook page, or Twitter account (any one of those things shows some initiative and can be created for no money) to not take the race seriously; therefore, I did not seek out interviews with them.
All candidates will get asked the same five questions; you’ll have to wait to see all the actual questions, but one has to do with accessibility.
If any non-placeholder Republican candidates (or candidates from other parties) opt to join the race later, an attempt will be made to speak with them.
Jane
This is great! Looking forward to a less political/predictable discussion which will hopefully give us a different perspective on the candidates and the type of mayor each might be.
Julie Beman
I’m very excited about this project. Great idea and good luck!
Kerri Provost
Thanks, Jane and Julie! I have had a few intriguing conversations so far. Can’t wait to share them.
Real Hartford » Five Questions with the Candidates
[…] I interviewed the four viable mayoral candidates, I began with a question about their favorite things in Hartford. Too often, interviews, forums, […]