25th Congressional District candidate forum to be held Oct. 15 at Maxwell

25th Congressional District candidate forum to be held Oct. 15 at MaxwellSeptember 16, 2008Jill Leonhardtjlleonha@maxwell.syr.edu

All candidates for the 25th congressional district seat will appear at an Oct. 15 forum sponsored by the Maxwell School of Syracuse University and CBS 5/WTVH-TV.

The unprecedented event, which will take place in Maxwell Auditorium, will be aired live on CBS 5 from 6-7:30 p.m. This is the only 90-minute live conversation with the candidates and is unusual in both its length and its format. Forgoing the typical debate structure common in today’s politics, this format will allow the candidates to give longer answers and the moderators to ask follow-up questions for clarification.

Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, Democratic candidate Dan Maffei and Republican candidate Dale Sweetland will each sit down separately for 30 minutes with Chappell Family Professor of Citizenship and Democracy Robert McClure and CBS 5 anchor Donna Adamo in front of the live audience for a conversation about important issues facing Syracuse and the nation.

“We believe that this kind of candidate forum will provide 25th district voters with the straightforward, ‘un-spun’ information that they both desire and deserve. No campaign sound-bites, no bickering back and forth-just serious, in-depth, substantive conversation,” says Maxwell Dean Mitchel Wallerstein. “WTVH deserves an enormous amount of credit from the Syracuse community for dedicating a full 90 minutes of airtime to this event. The Maxwell School looks forward to welcoming all three candidates for this important discussion on Oct. 15.”

“We are so pleased to partner with the Maxwell School on this unprecedented forum, which will allow us to fully uncover the issues that distinguish each candidate,” says Matthew Rosenfeld, president and general manager of CBS 5.