03-28-06

Democratic gubernatorial candidates will participate in April 3 forum at Iowa State

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University's Political Science Club and the Committee on Lectures will sponsor a Democratic gubernatorial forum with candidates Michael Blouin, Chet Culver, Ed Fallon and Sal Mohamed at 7 p.m., April 3, in the Great Hall, Memorial Union.

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

"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 among 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 that 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 planned the format of the event with help from the League of Women Voters.

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