Congressional Candidate Forum Tonight
This is a reminder that the New Castle County Democratic Committee will be hosting a U.S. Congressional Candidate Forum tonight, April 20, at 7:00pm at William Penn High School. Sean Barney, Mike Miller, Lisa Blunt Rochester, and Bryan Townsend are running for U.S. Representative and are all scheduled to participate.
Apologies to Mike Miller for not including him the the graphic. I’ll get our graphics department right on that.
I hope they will find a way to differentiate each other a little on the issues….
Some notes (from left to right):
LBR makes her debut on the stage with the rest of the candidates. It was pretty obvious that this was her first time doing this sort of thing. She had a lot of nervous energy that she will have to control going forward. But honestly, there were a few times that I think she just wanted to walk off the stage and get out of the race… That said, she had some nice moments in the debate, specifically getting passionate about civil liberties/civil rights.
Mike Miller provided some comic relief. We weren’t laughing with him. I’m still not sure why he’s running. He is apparently an accountant with a lawn care company… I don’t get it. As for what he’s going to do if elected: “I can show you better than I can tell you” was a favorite quote.
Sean Barney was more “on” than I’ve seen him before. He had good answers and he wasn’t as stiff as I have seen him in previous events. He also was the first to take a shot at Townsend, saying that “he didn’t need to be lectured” by Bryan on issues. He was very smart on the timing of this attack, also. Because of the way that the turns were stacked, Bryan couldn’t respond until 3 more responses had been given.
Bryan Townsend also comported himself well. He had good answers that built on other’s responses and also differentiated himself (which is sort of what drew the attack by Sean). For Bryan’s eventual response to the attack, he acknowledged that there would be debates in the future that were designed to compare records head-to-head and that he would hold his fire until them. Mark yer calendars!
Overall, the event was very well run and had a reasonable turnout. I saw all 3 Insurance Commissioner candidates shaking hands with folks, but I only think I saw Ciro Poppitti from the LG race.
Thanks for that update, LG. I’ve had more than a few people remark that they think Sean Barney is going to be surprisingly strong in this race.
Interesting. Maybe the showing against Ken Simpler was a feint? Was Congress the real target all along?
Nah. That’s even a little too tin-foil-hat for me.
I doubt it. Few people are natural born campaigners, it can take some practice and seasoning to be good at it.
Any idea if there’s video of the debate available?
It wasn’t a debate, it was a forum. I think the difference is that the candidates didn’t have much opportunity to talk about each other, but rather to answer audience questions (which were moderated).
I didn’t see any video being recorded.
One thing that this forum made me wonder is ‘why so negative?’. All of the questions or their answers were essentially about how horrible everything is. I get that there are big problems in the country (poverty, inequality, campaign finance, ISIS were all covered) but very little of what is discussed this cycle is about the good things going on. Honestly, maybe that is Hillary’s strength. She’s the only one that isn’t out there telling everyone that the country is going to hell in a handbasket.
liberalgeek, I agree with your analysis. Rochester is very likable. Unfortunately, she either isn’t knowledgeable about the issues beyond national headlines, or she wasn’t able to express her views on many topics. I was embarrassed for her much of the forum. As you mentioned, she had a few moments, mostly when she could speak personally to an issue, instead of on the policy. For example, she did well talking about social security, referring to her work as a case worker.
Bryan Townsend is smart and he knows it. He often sounded arrogant and smug. This is where I disagree with liberalgeek… It wasn’t an attempt by Townsend to “differentiate” himself from the other candidates that emboldened Barney, who is usually humble and deferential, to refute him. It was Townsend’s repeated weak, yet bigheaded and self-righteous claim, to be the only candidate on the stage with any policy experience.
Jason330, I think Sean Barney is intensely knowledgeable, but also sincerely passionate, about these issues and always has been. But, the range of issues to debate in the treasurer’s race were limited. And there was more interest in the incumbent’s issues and matters of the Cash Management Board. It’s also probably right that Barney isn’t a natural candidate either.
Meh. I feel like Barney didn’t take it well when Townsend had listened to 3 pie in the sky answers and gave a yeah, those are nice, but that’s not actually how it works reply.
I’d be interested if you think that Barney’s attack (such as it was) was timed so as to have the longest possible time between punch and counter-punch?
Everyone I talked to after the debate thought Barney’s attack was tone deaf, to say the least. It’s too bad, because he has clearly improved in debates from his terrible performances in 14. Most of his responses are good, even if a bit over-rehearsed.
Townsend didn’t sound arrogant, he sounded informed. Lisa’s nice but not ready for the congressional seat. If Barney said “Harvard” or “I was a policy advisor” one more time I would’ve vomited. Mike Miller was hilarious and spot on about Barney’s clear desperation to serve in some kind office. C’est La Vie, it’s Barney who’s being arrogant by saying his work as a junior staffer is what made the difference in passing all kinds of legislation. I’ve been a staffer before. Barney is grandstanding like no other. I’m glad Mike Miller called Barney out. I wouldn’t have minded if Townsend did the same.
Well Anon, I’m sorry your boss didn’t take your work seriously…but there are many staffers who work closely with their boss to develop legislation (in fact, the staffers usually WRITE the legislation), build contacts to whip votes, put together the reports and studies that underline the need, etc. Also, Barney wasn’t just a staff assistant…he was in senior staff for both a Senator and a Governor…which means he was incredibly involved in the policy process.
Townsend definitely can claim a lot of policy cred as well, since as an understaffed State Senator he develops a lot of his own proposals. But I wouldn’t turn my nose up at Barney’s policy bona fides.
I was not a huge fan of Barney’s in the ’14 race but as everyone seems to agree – he’s certainly better now in terms of being a candidate.
Marcopolo – agreed on those points. Though I’d deduct points for being a corporate lawyer, which doesn’t seem to get mentioned as often as
Question though, if Townsend is such a great policy pro in the State Senate, why hasn’t anyone in his caucus endorsed him?
Question though, if Townsend is such a great policy pro in the State Senate, why hasn’t anyone in his caucus endorsed him?
Senator Karen Peterson and Senator Nicole Poore endorsed Townsend months ago.