5 Things I Think I Think About the St. Pete Democratic Club Candidate Forum

Just returned from an hour-and-a-half of Masterpiece Theater, err, I mean the St. Petersburg Democratic Club's candidates forum. Here are five things I think about tonight's forum.

1. Of the seventy-five people in the crowd, I reckon only about five of them were African-American. This at a Democratic Club in a city with a significant black community. I've come to expect such lily whiteness at Republican events, but not from those hosted by the party of Barack Obama.

2. Of the mayoral candidates, only Paul Congemi and Rick Kriseman showed up. Not unexpectedly, Bill Foster was a no-show. But wouldn't it have been interesting had Foster made a cameo. He could have breezed in and said, "Look, we disagree about a lot of things and I don't expect any of you to vote for me when my friend and former colleague, Rick Kriseman, is on the ballot. But, that may not be the case in the general election. And we probably agree more than we disagree. Like on my efforts to extend same-sex benefits to all city employees and my plan to make education the cornerstone of my second term." Then, Foster could have left just as quickly as he entered, and in doing so, he would have turned a lot of heads, while sending a message that no voter will be taken for granted.

3. Darden Rice is the only registered Democrat running to represent District 4, so she was the only candidate at this forum. She was given the opportunity to speak for minutes and she used it to deliver a smart, strong stump speech that demonstrated that she is the class of all of the candidates running for City Council. She's a better candidate than almost any other candidate running for any seat, save Karl Nurse and I think Nurse would even agree that Darden is better on the stump than he is.

4. As for the four candidates running for District 8, Amy Foster is heads-and-shoulders above the three other candidates, no matter how well-meaning they are. Steve Galvin is obviously intelligent, but lacks the requisite political polish despite having consultant Johnny Bardine on his team. Robert Davis is also obviously intelligent, but he's less politically savvy than Galvin. Alex Duensing has yet to demonstrate that he is a credible candidate, but his wandering speaking style is sometimes entertaining.

5. A quick note about the crowd. Rep. Dwight Dudley was there, as was School Board member Rene Flowers and City Councilmen Steve Kornell and Wengay Newton. Amy Foster's crack team of Steve Lapinski and Greg Wilson (who was coaching Foster to smile more when she spoke) was also there. Didn't see any media.