The event took place in Durham at St. Joseph's AME Church, and the turnout was good. Immediately following the Candidate Forum, there was Endorsement voting. I received the straw poll results from Durham for Obama's Faulkner Fox around 10:30 PM ET:
The caveat: there will not be an official endorsement from DFO because it had set the bar for endorsement at 70%.
Here are the candidates' opening statements.
Below is the raw video of the forum once questions began.
You can see the raw tweets posted below the fold. [They are also at hashtag #phbsennc @pamshouseblend.]
During the event there were no questions about LGBT issues; the candidates filled out a questionnaire in advance of this forum and that including responses on our issues (http://ow.ly/1lfCT). Rather than go into details about the candidates and their backgrounds here, click over to read my intro post about them.
I did speak with both Cunningham and Lewis at greater length and they also gave a personal thumbs up to participate in a live blog at the Blend (on any issues; but there will be mostly LGBT ones), so I'll set that up pronto. The major point to note is that we have a slew of pro-LGBT candidates from the state of NC willing to discuss our issues openly and commit to answers in a live blog. How many Southern state candidates for the U.S. Senate would you expect that from?
Opening statements
cal up first. defining issue will be jobs and the economy.
talked about service in iraq and mentioned corruption and sexual assault.
lewis up talking about effect of obama's election on daughters.
US is fundamentally broken. today's senate doesn't serve the people.
marshall: thanked us for change .. but we haven't seen it...no leadership. She's quite feisty.
She asks people to look at what she's done as sec of state in NC
Marcus Williams is up. The last time he ran "he was not given time to speak." This was during 2008 when Obama was in Raleigh w/Clinton.
"I am best prepare to unite the party" as a public interest atty. He says he has the most experience on the issues.
Question time begins.
First question is about the economy and job creation. #phbsennc
Lewis: We have to act decisively right now to stimulate jobs. I have been a business owner and know that tax credits can make diff.
1.4 and 2.8 million jobs will be created under his plan. He wants to hire more schoolteachers -- kids shouldn't suffer.
calls for roads and bridge construction projects. Wants to invest in clean technology. #phbsennc
Marshall on the economy: "I am the only one that has served in the legislative nd exec branches. Fed needs to assist states. #phbsennc
Also calls for green and high tech innovations to be funded. She wants to pay this through closing tax loopholes.
Williams on economy: $12 billion debt - proposes bringing high tech companies to NC. Obama should allocate funds for small biz. #phbsennc
Williams; Allow access to low-interest loans. He helped start a business incubator in Wilmington #phbsennc
Cunningham on economy: invest in people. short medium and long term ways should be used to help small biz. Regulartory reform. #phbsennc
Cunningham; no more 'too big to fail. fix trade imbalance w/ China. R&D tax credit to connect manf. sector to high tech #phbsennc
Second question on DC gridlock how to break it. How to make it more effective body. #phbsennc
Marshall on gridlock; filibuster has been abused, the rules of the senate must be changed. reconciliation has been overused by GOP #phbsennc
Need to talk about the hypocrisy of GOP using the same tools they slam dems for using.
Williams on gridlock: Said you need to work with commonalities of interests and bring in thoughts from outside the beltway. #phbsennc
Williams: we've worked on everything from zoning to employment to medicare and you have to be well versed in regulatory systems #phbsennc
Cunningham on gridlock: bring in the cots and actually debate the issues and deliver the arguments all night. #phbsennc
Richard Burr is the poster child for lobbyist influence. We need reform and believe that answering voters questions is key. #phbsennc
Lewis on gridlock: The senate rules are the symptoms of a larger problem. It's not about parties it's about the people. #phbsennc
Lewis: we shouldn't substitute party loyalty for serving the people. We have to bring real change, for the interests of the people.#phbsennc
Lewis: I have been part of blue collar communities, corporate law firms. I understand the public interest #phbsennc
Question on foreign policy. What role should the U.S. play abroad?
Williams on foreign policy. we have to acknowledge that we are a debtor nation, but we must lead on safety and environment. #phbsennc
We must conduct ourselves along with the rule of law & be consistent in our decisionmaking.Gives kudos to Obama for restoring rep. #phbsennc
Cunningham on foreign policy: set a higher standard. We have an exceptional nation and must live up to our values. #phbsennc
All of our institutions must remain consistent with our values, we need to be a commerce center and engage and invest #phbsennc
Lewis: We can't jail or kill all our enemies, so we need to stay engaged with the world and engage and trade with the world #phbsennc
Marshall on fp: Keep our eye on the ball. we are a target for a lot of unsavory folks. We need to make decisions on valid info. #phbsennc
We need to develop more allies, strong allies so that we do not feel a need to act unilaterally. #phbsennc
We need to have fair trade and the agreements are honored and that our workers have a fair chance. Stop currency manipulation #phbsennc
Next Q: Health care reform. What should be the goals of any health care change? #phbsennc
Cunningham: Pass health care reform NOW. Eliminate the tax of the uninsured. Eliminate pre-existing cond. discrimination. #phbsennc
We have to deal with the challenge of costs, & there should be a public option. A health care bill needs to have meaningful change #phbsennc
Lewis is also for a public option. He has experience dealing as a small business man w/health care costs and policies #phbsennc
Lewis: end abuses of health ins companies. There is NO competition no matter what anyone says. #phbsennc
Lewis: We have to get control of costs. Now is the time - we have to get hold of this now. #phbsennc
Marshall: It's a sad commentary that in america that most bankruptcies are due to health care catastrophes. For a public option. #phbsennc
Marshall: It needs to be affordable and have independent oversight. everyone must be covered. #phbsennc
Marshall: Must eliminate gender disparity in costs - Burr considers domestic abuse a pre-existing condition. #phbsennc
Williams: Imperative to address this issue, for the humanity of the issue as well as cost control. How can we pull this off. #phbsennc
Williams: bipolar disorder or autism and other pre-existing conditions cannot be used to reject for coverage. #phbsennc
Williams: should be able to cover kids up to 26 years old. #phbsennc
Next question - ethics: SCOTUS ruling on corp spending on ads - how do you feel about this. #phbsennc
Lewis: Citizens United ruling is the worst in my lifetime. We don't need more corporate involvement. We must seek disclosure. #phbsennc
Lewis; The only sure way to fix this is through appointments to SCOTUS. #phbsennc
Marshall: We have real activist judges on the court. Corporations should not be able to influence your vote with cash. #phbsennc
Williams: The jury is still out on that SCOTUS ruling. He believes that we can in the Senate, prevent foreign corps from adverts. #phbsennc
Cunningham: Citizens United was a terrible decision and we need to change via SCOTUS appts. Transparency for corps that advertise #phbsennc
Cunningham believes that people showing up at forums like this will put pressure to change laws in Congress. #phbsennc
Another Q on economy: do you think it's more important to get debt reduced or improve econ.
Marshall: our deficit came from the tax breaks for elite, and two foreign wars under Bush. Need to invest first then work on def. #phbsennc
Williams: You can do both at once. Target smart: lure corporations back into U.S. , stimulate small business. Develop workforce. #phbsennc
Cunningham: Burr voted for every portion of the debt we are saddled with. We need to get people back to work to pay into system #phbsennc
The amount of money used to hire foreign contractors could hire americans. We must pay as we go. Eliminate loopholes for corps #phbsennc
Lewis; We have to fight deficits. We need to end stranglehold of this recession and get people back to work #phbsennc
TARP money needs to be used to put people to work -- some of that money has been paid back. #phbsennc
The future of our economy is a bottom up economy from the working people creating prosperity by giving them more opportunities. #phbsennc
Q on education: talk about No Child Left Behind. #phbsennc
Williams: Education is the hallmark of success. Obama has eliminated 2014 proficiency requirement. #phbsennc
We need to close underperforming schools and stop the teaching to the test instead of cognitive development #phbsennc
Cunningham; Fundamental importance of feds supporting education in the country, work on early pre-school intervention. #phbsennc
We have to make sure feds use resources to keep teachers on the job (reduce attrition), make sure all broadband connected. #phbsennc
Lewis: The future belongs to the country that best educates its children. The problems need to be addressed at every level. #phbsennc
We need to ensure that early childhood brain development is studied so parents are aware of how to help children succeed. #phbsennc
NCLB: there were good and bad things happened in durham schools. Moved away from real education and pushed test taking #phbsennc
College must be more affordable. we need to invest in the common interest we all have in education. #phbsennc
Marshall: every success she had came from public sector system, and she taught in the community college system. #phbsennc
Marshall: teachers are not paid enough for the hard work they have to do. An inspired teacher makes all the difference. #phbsennc
We have to professionalize teachers so they don't desert teaching at the five year mark. Make sure they can be paired w/mentors #phbsennc
Closing statements. (DFO neglected to ask a civil rights question in this forum). #phbsennc
Cunningham mentioned Terry Sanford (former Sen) and the greatness of moving civil rights forward and making NC citizens proud. #phbsennc
His daughter touched the hand of his 100 year old grandmother, a former slave. #phbsennc
Lewis: We must beat Richard Burr, but that is a bar set way too low. When Lewis mentioned working together, he specifically included "straight and gay" (1:03) #phbsennc
There was a lot of clapping then, BTW. #phbsennc
Marshall: she mentioned her experience as Sec. of State in battling wall street banks and doing lobbying reform in NC. #phbsennc
NC:the toughest lobbying laws in the country.For those who say reform is too hard. get out of the way and let someone else do it. #phbsennc
That's a wrap. #phbsennc
I will have video later. #phbsennc