I was thoroughly impressed by the Political Party and, especially, the quality of the questions posed by the panel. I think I saw David Miller dump his speaking points for the first time during the campaign and use his brain (from my perspective, he demonstrated that it still works).

The questions were impeccably researched and forced each candidate to focus their answer instead of speaking in platitudes. I would have been happy to stand in my spot until every question the panelists had brought with them was asked and answered. Twenty-five minutes was just too short.

I only have two regrets. First, I was standing infront of Mitch Gold, the fringe mayoral candidate. He insisted on being a sexist pig of enormous proportions by providing his own commentary throughout the night. When the late 20s/early 30s woman infront of me asked him to “mind your manners,” Gold responded: “How about you turn around, young lady.”

My second regret is that the mainstream media, presented with actual news from the mayoral campaign, still didn’t provide any substantive coverage. I understand why they don’t want to spend endless column inches repeating Miller’s “cleaner, greener” mantra on a daily basis but he was forced to speak outside of his carefully constructed message box last night and no one would know it if they weren’t there.

Thanks to all who were involved in making the Political Party happen.

Comment by Adam C-F
November 7, 2006 @ 12:25 pm

I thought it was a pretty good night as well. The fact the crowd was so pro-Miller was a bit of a downer, as he kind of got a free ride when it came to dodging some of the questions posed to him; poor Jane Pitfield had no such luck. Nevertheless, I think the event clearly shows Miller is in a league of his own in this race. He’s so confident and charismatic. I can’t imagine him not winning this race by a good margin. (I posted photos I took of the event on Flickr, for those interested.)

Comment by ramanan
November 7, 2006 @ 12:54 pm

was any of the panel audio- or video-taped for those who couldn’t get in the door since it was so packed? (congratulations on the turnout!)

Comment by andrew
November 7, 2006 @ 1:50 pm

Funny you should ask, Andrew. It was videotaped and a link should be available to the full event soon — possibly tomorrow.

Comment by Edward Keenan
November 7, 2006 @ 3:15 pm