Inside Iowa State

March 31, 2006

Meet the candidates at a Democratic gubernatorial forum

by Samantha Beres

Iowa State's political science club will host a Democratic gubernatorial forum with candidates Michael Blouin, Chet Culver, Ed Fallon and Sal Mohamed at 7 p.m. April 3 in the MU Great Hall.

This is one of the first opportunities for voters to get to know the candidates, said Eric Lindstrom, president of the political science club.

"The ultimate goal is to create dialogue and discussion," Lindstrom said. "I think lately, politics has become more polarized and it's important to bring lots of different people together in discussion."

He added that the forum will promote interaction between the candidates, which will indicate where they stand on the issues, perhaps more so than the one-way messages sent to voters through sound bites, commercials and Web sites.

Lindstrom said he hopes similar public forums for political candidates become a tradition at Iowa State.

Dirk Deam, senior lecturer in political science, will moderate. The political science club developed the questions and the format for the event, with help from the League of Women Voters.

For more information, call Lindstrom, 309-235-2571, or Deam, 4-7256.

ISU's political science club will host a Democratic gubernatorial forum at 7 p.m. April 3 in the MU Great Hall.