The importance of a candidate’s forum should never be underestimated.  Last week, I attended a forum featuring candidates for various local and federal offices.  The format was prearranged, with 2-3 specific questions provided in advance to each candidate in their respected races. As I told another attendee, these forums can be more entertaining than Monday night television.

While a debate format tends to be move lively, and may more readily expose candidates’ weaknesses, the minimal preparation needed to answer two – three relatively simple questions seemed to have stumped some of the participants.  Even with several weeks to prepare, a few of the candidates publically demonstrated why they should not be elected to any office.

One would expect that each candidate had researched his/her race enough to know what the responsibilities and the limitations are of the office they seek.  Unfortunately, it was obvious last week that some candidates had absolutely no clue, and in fact, they demonstrated a gross lack of knowledge of government in general.  Even worse than that, in more than one hotly contested race, several candidates failed to appear at all.  I find it incredibly pompous for any candidate to skip this type of event, and I believe it demonstrates extreme arrogance and indifference towards the voters.  If you are asking people to vote for you as their representative, the least you could do is attend a community event where the majority of your competitors attend.

Finally, and sadly, I also continue to be amazed at the lack of voter involvement in these types of events.  I find it hard to imagine how a voter can sift through the large number of candidates and make an informed, educated decision without doing the minimal amount of “research” into the candidates.  Clearly mailers and radio/TV/newspaper ads are completely self-serving and thus cannot provide enough substance to educate the public.  Additionally, in my home county, news coverage of contested political races is almost non-existent until just before Election Day—which of course excludes those who elect to vote early.  Therefore candidate’s forums take on added weight and significance and should be seen as an opportunity to evaluate the candidates in person.

I believe that the combination of voter apathy and the reliance on biased news media to provide information in contested political races has led to the continued election of officials who appear to be oblivious to the real needs and/or concerns of the voters.  Despite the recent surge in the “Tea Party” movement, many voters’ only interest in their elected officials is a “what’s in it for me” attitude.

I applaud groups that go to the effort to host candidate’s forums or debates, the voters who take the time to attend, and especially the candidates who attend and are prepared to honestly air and discuss their views on the issues that are important to us all.