More than 50 local and statewide candidates, including Governor Charlie Crist, came to Tampa Sunday for a political forum its organizers called the largest in Tampa Bay.
United Voices for America hosted the event, which featured candidates in races for about every position from school board to U.S. Senate. Held in the spirit of inclusive government, it drew a diverse crowd which included a large Muslim turnout.
Sponsored by Democracia, the Hillsborough NAACP branch, USF College Democrats and USF College Republicans, the event was an attempt to unify Tampa Bay residents, said co-chair of the event, Dr. Samuel Wright.
Ahmed Bedier, CEO and founder of United Voices, moderated the forum. According to its rules, each candidate had a chance to explain why they decided to run, field a question or two from panelists, and say a closing statement. For most answers, they were allowed only 60 seconds to respond.
At a few points, the fast pace — necessary to speed through so many speakers — left candidates with an awkwardly brief amount of time to answer the question posed. Still, considering that in just one afternoon voters could acquaint themselves with candidates from Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, and Hernando counties, the events scale was impressive. It just didnt lend itself to nuanced policy debate.
And a downside to those who wanted to compare candidates: In very few instances did more than one candidate running for the same seat appear. Of the notable ones who did, were Kathy Castor and Mike Prendergast, both running for House District 11. As they discussed extending the Bush tax cuts, the crowd became so vocal that Bedier stopped to tell them not to boo, reminding them, You can vote them out of office. Or you can vote them into office, he said.
This article appears in Oct 7-13, 2010.
