Cindy Chavez, the liberal Democrat in the race for San Jose's Mayor, released a podcast in order to reach out to young voters...
People my age statistically use their right to vote less than any other age group. So most politicians don't waste their time reaching out to people age 18-25. Except for Cindy Chavez. She recently began broadcasting, excuse me,
podcasting a podcast called Discussions With Cindy. Willow Glen resident Michele Bertolone is asking the questions in the discussion and Cindy Chavez is answering them. Bertolone acknowledges in her premiere podcast that she won't exactly be conducting hardball interviews, but that she will focus on "real issues" as opposed to imaginary issues. Admittedly, the podcast is a campaign tool, but a respectable one - at least someone is trying to reach out to us young whipper-snappers.
You can subscribe to the podcasts for free using iTunes. I posted the first 15 seconds of an "episode" so you can get a taste of the discussion. Notice the introductory music that sounds vaguely like introductory music to a Skinemax Movie. Also notice the chumminess between the two women that evocates SNL's famous Delicious Dish parody of NPR. Click here for a listen.
Chavez's vocal quality oscillates between passionate and tired. In the first full-length episode, Chavez explains that she decided to run for City Council after someone shot a bullet into her bedroom. When a cop arrived at the scene, Chavez asked what they could do to prevent that kind of incident from happening again. In response, the cop told her to "think about moving". I'm not entirely sure I buy that story. But if it is true, it's pretty compelling. "Someone had shot my nest," exclaimed Cindy. After listening to the podcast for just 10 minutes, I couldn't reconcile the local media's image of Chavez as Satan In A Powersuit with this nice lady talking about neighborhoods. To find out for yourself, download "Discussions With Cindy".