U.S. House candidates get moment to shine
A televised forum will give each of the 12 a few minutes to field students' questions
Five minutes.
In about that time you could cook an egg, drive from Lower Makiki to the state Capitol, or listen to U2's "With or Without You" and still have four seconds to spare.
But for the 10 Democrats and two Republicans running for the 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House, a total of just 300 seconds is all they will have to make their cases to voters during a candidate forum being televised live statewide tomorrow night.
The forum is scheduled from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Hawaii Theatre and is being broadcast by KGMB9.
"I have no idea what it's going to be like," said Neal Milner, a political scientist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "I suppose the best thing they can do is get their face before the camera and say one or two smart things and hope for the best."
With the Sept. 23 primary less than three weeks away, the campaign to represent rural Oahu and the neighbor islands in Congress has gained prominence, with more ads popping up on radio and TV and more appearances by candidates in the district.
This week alone, the Democratic Party of Hawaii has organized forums for its candidates on Kauai and the Big Island.
A similar forum featuring the 2nd Congressional District candidates was broadcast last week by KHNL.
Tomorrow's event is scheduled to have the 12 candidates fielding questions from a panel of four moderators. The 10 Democrats will be divided up, by random drawing, into one group of four and two groups of three, and the two Republicans will comprise their own group.
The groups will be brought on stage one at a time, with the speaking order to be determined by random draw. The first candidate in each group will be asked a question and have 90 seconds to respond. The candidates then rotate until each one in the group has answered three questions. After all candidates in a group have answered three questions, each will have 30 seconds to address any topic.
Questions will not be provided in advance.
"It benefits the people who are running for office and who aren't really that well known yet -- and that's almost all of them," Milner said. "In a very chaotic kind of campaign, it's just a small but important chance to get a little bit more attention than you're likely to get, or likely be able to afford."
The forum comes a week after the widely publicized debate between U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka and his primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Ed Case.
"We wanted to sponsor this forum to help voters learn more about the candidates vying for this important seat," said Kyle Chock, executive director of the Pacific Resource Partnership, which is sponsoring the forum. The partnership was formed in 1987 to promote union carpentry and secure work for its contractors.
Chock said he asked organizers to solicit questions from students who live in the 2nd Congressional District. Students also will make up a large contingent of the theater audience, he said. The event is by invitation only.
"Looking at Hawaii's dismal voter turnout," Chock said, "we felt like we needed to do something to engage the next generation of voters to be a part of the process and not be so disconnected from the important decisions that are being made."
CANDIDATE FORUM
Who: Candidates running for the 2nd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House
What: "The Race for Congress," a live televised candidate forum
When: Tomorrow, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Where: Hawaii Theatre, by invitation only. The event is scheduled to be broadcast by KGMB9.
Democrats: Hanalei Aipoalani, Nestor Garcia, Colleen Hanabusa, Clayton Hee, Mazie Hirono, Gary Hooser, Matt Matsunaga, Ron Menor, Brian Schatz, Joe Zuiker
Republicans: Bob Hogue, Quentin Kawananakoa
The event is scheduled to be rebroadcast at 1:30 p.m. Friday on KGMB9, and on PBS Hawaii at a later date.
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