candidate debates on wedu
DawnWEDU hosted three debates Saturday and three more Monday to air Tuesday and Wednesday nights as we enter the week before the general election. They were moderated by Rob Lorei of WEDU’s Florida This Week and WMNF’s Radioactivity.Saturday started with U.S. District 5 candidate John Russell, (D), a nurse practitioner who relocated to Dade City from Buffalo, NY in the mid-90’s. His opponent is incumbent Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite, (R); she was not available for the debate.
Running to replace retiring Congressman Michael Bilirakis in the U.S. House Dist. 9 seat is former Hillsborough County Commissioner Phyllis Busansky (D), and Bilirakis’ son, Gus Bilirakis (R). I was in the studio for the live taping and observed both candidates being super nice to each other even before film started to roll. In a time when campaigns couldn’t possibly get any nastier, it made me a little bit verklempt. No one lost their manners during the debate either, but it did become a little heated at some points.
US District 10 was added at the last minute, with Samm Simpson (D), former VP of marketing at Raymond James, getting the whole half hour to herself as her opponent, 18-term Congressman C.W. “Bill”Young (R) was not available for the debate.
Monday’s debates will cover candidates for Florida Attorney General: Walter “Skip” Campbell (D.) and Bill McCollum (R.); US District 11 Kathy Castor (D.) and Eddie Adams Jr. (R.); and Florida’s chief Financial Officer Tom Lee (R.) and Alex Sink (D.).
Each debate is a half hour long. They will air on WEDU beginning on Halloween, Tuesday 10/31, at 8pm with John Russell; 8:30pm with district 9; and 9pm with District 11.
Wednesday’s debates also begin at 8pm, with the CFO race, Attorney General at 8:30PM, and District 10 candidate Samm Simpson at 9.
Tags: election '06, Florida, tampa
Loading ...
October 30th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
This is clear proof that politicians are more full of you-know-what than a Christmas goose. Sure Gus and Phyllis were all chummy with the cameras and mics off, yet voters only see negative ads. As for Ginny, it wasn’t a matter of being available, she just didn’t want to participate. The rest of us stopped listening to their blather weeks ago. Expect low turnout at the polls.
October 30th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
Negative ads are a whole other ballgame and everyone who wants to win plays it.
We all know politicians are people pleasers before an election. It’s up to us to educate ourselves so we can best decide who will continue to care about us once elected.
October 30th, 2006 at 8:11 pm
gus can afford to be nice, the RNC is paying for his attack ads.