Lance-Stender debate Number 1
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/mideast_policy_dominates_lance.html
Lance Stender Debate Number 1 Held Tuesday, September 17, 2008
"State Sen. Leonard Lance and Assemblywoman Linda Stender debated a range of domestic and international issues tonight as they battled to represent the 7th Congressional District, with American foreign policy toward Israel and the Middle East emerging as a major concern for their standing-room-only audience."
"Hosted by the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, Lance, a Hunterdon County Republican, and Stender, a Union County Democrat, affirmed their support for the Jewish state and expressed concern for the emerging threat from Iran and its growing nuclear capabilities."
Comment
Read the rest of the article.
The event was held in the Community Pavilion Room of the Scotch Plains JCC of Central New Jersey. I arrived shortly before the Rabbi gave his opening remarks to a packed community room at the JCC with an overflowing crowd hanging out in the doorways and hallway. I stood behind the video and audio technicians that were there to tape the debate that were doing their jobs on the floor. I could see the video from the TV screen the AV team was using but the PA system was not loud enough to hear everything.
Many people moved up and down the crowded hallway checking out the situation hoping to find a seat to sit on but there were none. To get a seat, one should have arrived an hour earlier probably.
The two candidates were there for the seat of retiring Representative Ferguson, the son of a wealthy man, Congress's best golfer, and leading brown nose for President Bush.
The JCC is huge and impressive with a very large parking lot. The lot was huge with many earlier driving through and leaving by the exit because they could not find a place to park. The JCC has a full size gymnasium that could have held three times the entire crowd that stayed and many that just drove off and was empty when I walked by to get to the full community room and had a half dozen boys shooting baskets when I was walking out of the building. If they used the gym everyone could have been seated with some room left over.
But then there would still be a parking problem. The JCC still had many activities going on at the time that might have been rescheduled or the debate could have been held when fewer things were going on there. There were far too few parking spaces.
The next debate if there is one and none were announced, should be held in a much larger auditorium with plentiful parking. It is a sham when maybe 1/4 of the interested audience can obtain parking and get a seat to witness an event.
The debate should also be run by an impartial group such as the League of Women Voters. It was generous of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey to host the event, but the entire event was just a little too Jewish and Israeli and they seemed to be the modal group attending. Some voters may have been shy or did not realize it was a free public event to attend at the JCC for some reason.
And the debate lasted only 30 minutes. Give me a break. Whose idea was that? Cupcakes and namby pambys should not be candidates. There should have been more questions from the panel and a question and answer session from the audience to the candidates. Even Howie Mandell does an hour on stage in Las Vegas and he is not even a politician.
Lance Stender Debate Number 1 Held Tuesday, September 17, 2008
"State Sen. Leonard Lance and Assemblywoman Linda Stender debated a range of domestic and international issues tonight as they battled to represent the 7th Congressional District, with American foreign policy toward Israel and the Middle East emerging as a major concern for their standing-room-only audience."
"Hosted by the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, Lance, a Hunterdon County Republican, and Stender, a Union County Democrat, affirmed their support for the Jewish state and expressed concern for the emerging threat from Iran and its growing nuclear capabilities."
Comment
Read the rest of the article.
The event was held in the Community Pavilion Room of the Scotch Plains JCC of Central New Jersey. I arrived shortly before the Rabbi gave his opening remarks to a packed community room at the JCC with an overflowing crowd hanging out in the doorways and hallway. I stood behind the video and audio technicians that were there to tape the debate that were doing their jobs on the floor. I could see the video from the TV screen the AV team was using but the PA system was not loud enough to hear everything.
Many people moved up and down the crowded hallway checking out the situation hoping to find a seat to sit on but there were none. To get a seat, one should have arrived an hour earlier probably.
The two candidates were there for the seat of retiring Representative Ferguson, the son of a wealthy man, Congress's best golfer, and leading brown nose for President Bush.
The JCC is huge and impressive with a very large parking lot. The lot was huge with many earlier driving through and leaving by the exit because they could not find a place to park. The JCC has a full size gymnasium that could have held three times the entire crowd that stayed and many that just drove off and was empty when I walked by to get to the full community room and had a half dozen boys shooting baskets when I was walking out of the building. If they used the gym everyone could have been seated with some room left over.
But then there would still be a parking problem. The JCC still had many activities going on at the time that might have been rescheduled or the debate could have been held when fewer things were going on there. There were far too few parking spaces.
The next debate if there is one and none were announced, should be held in a much larger auditorium with plentiful parking. It is a sham when maybe 1/4 of the interested audience can obtain parking and get a seat to witness an event.
The debate should also be run by an impartial group such as the League of Women Voters. It was generous of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey to host the event, but the entire event was just a little too Jewish and Israeli and they seemed to be the modal group attending. Some voters may have been shy or did not realize it was a free public event to attend at the JCC for some reason.
And the debate lasted only 30 minutes. Give me a break. Whose idea was that? Cupcakes and namby pambys should not be candidates. There should have been more questions from the panel and a question and answer session from the audience to the candidates. Even Howie Mandell does an hour on stage in Las Vegas and he is not even a politician.
posted by God Bless America - Bob at 10:26 PM
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