Photo: Courtesy of AFSCME

Sponsor: AFSCME.

Candidates: Sen. Joe Biden, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chris Dodd, former Sen. John Edwards, former Sen. Mike Gravel, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Gov. Bill Richardson and former Gov. Tom Vilsack participated.  [8 of the 9 candidates; not participating: Sen. Barack Obama, in Iowa later in the day].

Moderator: ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.

Audience: About 600 AFSCME members and retirees.

Broadcast: ABC News, ABC News Now and C-SPAN.

Format: Forum layout and rules (as determined by AFSCME):

At 2:45 am EST all the candidates attending have been invited to attend a group photo and video on then the forum stage.  Following the photo the forum will begin with remarks from United States Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), AFSCME president Gerald McEntee and Nevada State Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley.

After the introduction and welcome, each candidate will take the stage individually (order of appearance determined by lottery: Dodd, Clinton, Vilsack, Edwards, Richardson, Biden, Kucinich, Gravel):

·         The candidate will give 2:00 minute opening remarks

·         The candidate will answer three questions. Two from George Stephanopoulos and one submitted by AFSCME the order of questions is up to the moderator.

·         The candidate has no more than 3:00 minutes to answer each question.

·         The candidate has 1:00 minute to make closing remarks

·         There will be a count-down clock visible to both the guest and moderator during each segment.

This process will continue until each candidate has participated.

Additional Notes: Former Gov. Tom Vilsack ended his campaign less than two days after this event, withdrawing on Feb. 23, 2007.
 

AFSCME page

AFSCME Feb. 12, 2007 press release.
 

Copyright © 2006, 2007  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action