Last night, I attended an 8th Congressional District candidates forum, hosted by the NAACP, at the Antioch Church of Christ in Alexandria. All the Democratic candidates, plus two Republican candidates, were there, for a total of 12 – count ’em! – folks up on the stage. Which means that even in a debate lasting about 120 minutes, each candidate’s averaged about 10 minutes, although it was lower than that because obviously time was taken up asking questions as well. So maybe 6 or 7 minutes per candidate, including opening and closing statements? It’s too bad, but that’s what happens when you have so many people running. Despite all that, it was an interesting – and at times highly entertaining – debate, particularly when hard-right Republican Paul Haring spoke (almost 100% about the evils of abortion, the need for religious instruction in our public schools, etc.). We’ll get to video of Mr. Haring, but first, here are three of the candidates – Don Beyer, Lavern Chatman, and Adam Ebbin – answering a question posed to those three about climate change (which Chatman mistakenly referred to as “climate control” – lol).
Video: 8th CD Candidates Speak at NAACP Forum in Alexandria
Last night, I attended an 8th Congressional District candidates forum, hosted by the NAACP, at the Antioch Church of Christ in Alexandria. All the Democratic candidates, plus two Republican candidates, were there, for a total of 12 - count 'em! - folks up on the stage. Which means that even in a debate lasting about 120 minutes, each candidate's averaged about 10 minutes, although it was lower than that because obviously time was taken up asking questions as well. So maybe 6 or 7 minutes per candidate, including opening and closing statements? It's too bad, but that's what happens when you have so many people running. Despite all that, it was an interesting - and at times highly entertaining - debate, particularly when hard-right Republican Paul Haring spoke (almost 100% about the evils of abortion, the need for religious instruction in our public schools, etc.). We'll get to video of Mr. Haring, but first, here are three of the candidates - Don Beyer, Lavern Chatman, and Adam Ebbin - answering a question posed to those three about climate change (which Chatman mistakenly referred to as "climate control" - lol).
