Thoughts on a candidate forum

The other night I attended a candidate forum for those aspiring to serve on Knoxville City Council. All five contested district seats have incumbents who are eligible to run again and each have challengers. The evening was organized and facilitated by the League of Women Voters, an organization dedicated to civic engagement and meaningful dialogue.

Few people attended. It was more like a dance recital with parents viewing their children, supporting them and wondering what talent they might possess. Who knew? In this case the “parents” were supporters and friends.

I admit I found the evening lackluster and low-minded. Not sure why. Perhaps I was projecting my own sad mood onto the occasion. I did find it hard to hear in the room and the format felt wooden. The candidates were seated in a long row and it was tough to keep straight who was running against whom and from which district.

The questions were not particularly imaginative and the responses were bland.

I remember being in similar circumstances and feeling constrained by the format. I remember wanting to break out of the confines of the structure and speak openly and more freely about my thoughts on a particular matter.

Everybody in the room was cautious or apprehensive about sounding foolish. Whenever I am tempted by this kind of restraint I sound foolish.

I longed for somebody to step forward and speak encouragingly of the future and paint a picture of hope and clarity. Describe a place we would all like to live in. Step out and sound genuine and different.

But it’s hard to think in front of people. It’s hard to sound smart when people are gazing skeptically at you. Your brain blinks off and on like an old light bulb.

What about me. What have I been doing? How different am I from the people speaking that night. Not much. In a way I lapse into thinking the same drivel. There is a kind of vortex that exists in politics that keep the conversations from breaking into anything resembling wisdom or vision.

But things can change. We simply choose to speak differently.