Syracuse University

News Archive


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

September 16, 2008


Jill Leonhardt
jlleonha@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.