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I attended the Candidate Forum at the Metro Dem meeting last night. It was, overall, a good forum -- we got to hear from all the candidates that showed (where was Burrell?), and each candidate got to give an opening and closing statement. No big news, really, and not too many sound bites. Connie Marshall delivered one of the most striking -- asked what she would have done differently if she had been mayor since merger, she responded that if she were Mayor Jer, the first thing she would do would be to terminate herself. (To which Jim King replied, "I think he already has.")

After it was over, though, I thought about what we DIDN'T learn about the candidates last night. Here's a list of what we don't know that could hurt us come May:

• How are they to work with?
• How do they treat their staff? How about their staff's staff? Do they micromanage? Do they delegate well?
• How to they treat their family and friends? Are they loyal? Are they loyal to a fault? Do they use things and love people, or the other way around?
• How well do they know themselves? Do they know their strengths and weaknesses? How do they magnify their strengths, and how do they mitigate their weaknesses?
• Do they take credit for others' work, or do they like to deflect credit to others?
• Do they take offense at slights, or are they secure enough to overlook things?
• How are they in a fight? Do they swell up, blow up, seethe, seek revenge? Or do they know how to fight fair?
• Are they passive, aggressive, or assertive? With everyone, or only certain people?
• Does their behavior change depending on whom they are talking to? Do they act differently in order to impress?
• How are their listening skills? How are their communication skills in general?
• How are they in a crisis? How are they when there is no crisis? Do they generate crisis when there is none, because that's the only way they know to lead?
• Can they work with enemies? Can they turn enemies into friends? Can they build coalitions without diluting their principles?
• For that matter -- what are their principles? Are they progressive, conservative, pragmatic, independent, Libertarian, crazy?
• Can they manage? Can they lead? Can they do both?

So, there's a beginning list. I could go on, but you get the idea: what about this process will help us learn the answers to these things? If we were interviewing them for a job, we'd get to ask at least some of these. How about during an election?