BY MIKE CETERA
So, who won the Democratic debate Thursday night at Aurora University? It seems bloggers gave the edge to John Laesch. Beacon editors appeared to give Laesch the nod as well.
John certainly appears the most at ease in these situations. But none of these candidates really wowed 'em. And I think the Republicans in the race both showed greater savvy onstage last week than the Dems did Thursday night.
As a side note, there were fewer people in attendance at this debate than at the GOP debate and it appears fewer people participated online. Maybe there's just less sizzle in the Democratic primary. Maybe it was a brutally cold night that kept people away. Or maybe there just aren't enough Democrats to elect one of their own in the 14th Congressional District.
In case you missed it, see the full debate via CBS-2 here. Find last week's Republican debate here.
Thanks again to everyone who participated.
Compared to the repug debate..which led off with Jimmy "I look just like Denny Hastert!" Oberweiss doing the attack dog on the other guy, this was a little..duller? So..was that attack "greater savvy"?..geez Mike, nothing like the Kompassionate Konservatives "debating" the issues...
I agree on the Laesch thumbs up, here's hoping he gets the chance to run in the election..we'd LOVE to hear him go at it with Oberweiss in a real debate.
I came away fairly impressed with John Laesch, and Bill Foster. I was at both debates, and to me the turnout was fairly close to the same as the republican debate. It was afterall -9 below last night, so any lack of turnout was probably due to that factor. The only problem I had with Mr. Stein was he kept saying he was the only one who could bring jobs to the district, yet he never said how he could, or why the other candidates wouldnt be able to. He had nice soundbites, but no proof of how he could accomplish these goals. Mr. Cerra was out of his league. You could tell he didnt want to be there. I believe he even made the comment that his job comes first, as to why he missed other debates. Sorry Mr Cerra, if you want this job, we the people come first.
My nod goes to John Laesch, Bill Foster a close 2nd.
The Repugs who debated first have run before - in Oberwies's case - many times before. J.O. is a perenial candidate and has run through every office in the state except dog catcher. He'd be good at that though. Unfortunately, I have to agree that there just aren't enough Democrats in the the 14th to elect "one of their own". Hope that will change someday in my lifetime.
Disagree about Serra (check your spelling) I was at the debate and understood his meaning. His job is with his employer - campainging comes second. His job with the people comes first if he wins. Duh.
I understood what Mr. Serra meant too. How do the other candidates pay their bils if they spend all of their time campaigning? What about Mr. Laesch? How does he pay his bills if he's out making speaches all day? Is he on unemployment or something?
I'm fairly new to this area and a bit of a political junkie, so I watched both the Republican and Democratic debates with interest. I'm actually somewhat surprised there aren't more comments here.
For anyone who's spent any time watching Congress on cspan, they might agree with me that we have plenty of passion in D.C., but not a plethora of brains. Consequently, I was most impressed with Bill Foster. Having someone in Congress with the knowledge and background to promote new green technologies will both boost our economy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil -- a win/win situation. And, if Foster has indeed kept his employees here instead of giving in to the greed of relocating in Asia, that shows a true commitment to America and a sense of caring for American workers which says a lot more to me than passionate words. Foster has my vote.