IL-05: The (Charlie) Wheelan Interview
Charlie Wheelan was the last candidate to participate in this series. After a little bit of confusion about schedule, I went into a very wet Chicago to talk to the author of "Naked Economics."
When I walked into their headquarters at noon, they had 15-20 young people -- I'd guess college age -- at their computers entering data into the VAN. Other people were on the phones. An interesting environment, a serious, almost professional. People busy doing their work. Here was a campaign office with volunteers almost entirely in their 20s (perhaps a few teens) and there was none of the chatter, none of the good-natured conversation going on that I could hear. They were serious about why they were there.
Again, I would compliment the candidates I interviewed in this race. Bright, ambitious, serious people who've given a lot of thought about why they were running for Congress and what they wanted to do if they were elected. It's hard for me not to think that those who didn't choose to participate in this series were less so. Everyone had the questions in advance. They weren't difficult questions. But I've seen in the past that there are a lot of candidates running for Congress who can't answer even these basic questions. I look at these interviews as an opportunity for campaigns to get their message out. But they may not all see it that way.
I ask the same questions of every candidate. The questions I ask are derived from prior cycle's interviews, as well as my request for input. They split about half and half, half from prior election years and half the questions from the other area bloggers who posed questions for the candidates.
Candidates are provided the questions in advance. I tell every campaign that this isn't "Hardball" and I don't pretend to be Tim Russert. Rather, the point is to give voters the opportunity to compare the candidates side-by-side, to see how they answer the same questions, and to give them the opportunity to get their message out.
Other interviews in this series are:
Mike Quigley
Tom Geoghegan
Paul Bryar
Victor Forys
John Fritchey
Jan Donatelli
When I walked into their headquarters at noon, they had 15-20 young people -- I'd guess college age -- at their computers entering data into the VAN. Other people were on the phones. An interesting environment, a serious, almost professional. People busy doing their work. Here was a campaign office with volunteers almost entirely in their 20s (perhaps a few teens) and there was none of the chatter, none of the good-natured conversation going on that I could hear. They were serious about why they were there.
Again, I would compliment the candidates I interviewed in this race. Bright, ambitious, serious people who've given a lot of thought about why they were running for Congress and what they wanted to do if they were elected. It's hard for me not to think that those who didn't choose to participate in this series were less so. Everyone had the questions in advance. They weren't difficult questions. But I've seen in the past that there are a lot of candidates running for Congress who can't answer even these basic questions. I look at these interviews as an opportunity for campaigns to get their message out. But they may not all see it that way.
I ask the same questions of every candidate. The questions I ask are derived from prior cycle's interviews, as well as my request for input. They split about half and half, half from prior election years and half the questions from the other area bloggers who posed questions for the candidates.
Candidates are provided the questions in advance. I tell every campaign that this isn't "Hardball" and I don't pretend to be Tim Russert. Rather, the point is to give voters the opportunity to compare the candidates side-by-side, to see how they answer the same questions, and to give them the opportunity to get their message out.
Other interviews in this series are:
Mike Quigley
Tom Geoghegan
Paul Bryar
Victor Forys
John Fritchey
Jan Donatelli
2 comments:
no Sara?
Sara refused to participate
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