TONIGHT: Candidates Forum: Round 1

Right now I'm finishing up getting prepped for tonight's first public forum for school board candidates, being held between 6 and 8 at Rockingham Middle School and sponsored by the North Carolina Association of Educators. The task of the hour is polishing up my opening and closing statements. Every possible question that might be asked has been going through my brain during the past few days and I think I've got everything accounted for... but with about 12 candidates (that I know are coming) and only two hours to hear them all, I've no idea how many I might get asked.

And after that comes getting ready for tomorrow night's lived televised forum. If I can get past the next few days of forums and putting signs out, I'll be completely confident that I've done everything possible so far as my part in this election goes. Then we'll see what happens November 7th. In the meantime, I'll post a full report after tonight's events.

EDIT 9:36 PM EST: Back from the candidates forum. Considering this was the first political thing like this that I've ever done, I think it went rather well. Here's a pic that Lisa took just before things got started...


Those are my fellow candidates Reida Drum on the left, Steve Smith behind me and Lori Booth McKinney on the right.

Once things kicked off each candidate had one minute to give an introduction. This was followed by six questions, the starting order dancing around among the 12 candidates that were on stage. The fifth question landed on me to give the first answer: something about what would we do to improve relations among the school board and various individuals and agencies in the county. I thought it was pretty vague, but I gave as honest an answer as I could. Don't think anybody liked that one very much. One question that got asked was about whether we support this bill in the state General Assembly that would give local school boards the right to tax. I was the third one to get the mike and the first word out of my mouth was a good deep "No." I then went on to say that taxation is the worst power given government and it doesn't need that anymore. "These are good people on the school board. If I get elected on the board, with these good people, I'm telling you: don't trust us! Don't give us that power!" It was an answer that evoked quite a bit of laughter... but I think it may have impressed some people too. But that really is how I believe: give the power to tax to any group of people, no matter how well-meaning they are, and the temptation to abuse it is just going to manifest itself in time.

Well anyway, I feel pretty good about tonight. Now just gotta get tanned, rested and ready for tomorrow night: the live televised candidates forum. What will happen? Stay tuned!

(p.s.: thanks to Sam at Strader's Shoes for fixing me up real good for tonight's event. I forsook my usual boots tonight for the first real dress shoes I've bought in at least ten years :-)