Politicians used to run their campaigns by shaking hands and engaging in public debates with their opponents. I mean, who can forget the pictures of John Kennedy shaking hands at the plant gate at change of shift? Certainly, many, if not all, of us can picture the Lincoln-Douglas debates, during which Douglas had to stand on a stump to be seen, while Lincoln, with his stovepipe hat, towered above the crowd.

Now it’s a new day and things, through the magic of television, have changed - one might argue, not necessarily for the better.

The Chamber, in the last few years, has endeavored to provide reliable candidate information to its members. We have held forums; printed grids of candidate information in the Chamber Xpress; and referred people directly to candidates for information. All of these efforts have been devised in order to help each member make his or her best choice at the poll. Our goal is not to sway votes; rather it is to give you, our member, candid information regarding the candidates’ views on business.

This year, we have arranged to host several forums. Specifically, we anticipated holding a US Senate Candidate forum and a gubernatorial forum. In order to give Senate candidates adequate time to arrange their schedules, we originally invited them to participate in the August forum on May 9, 2006. Both candidate committees respectfully replied but made no real commitment.

Unfortunately, we regret to inform you that neither candidate will appear at our forum. Mr. Kennedy’s handlers recently informed the Chamber that “he has other plans” and would not be able to attend the forum until later that evening. Ms. Klobuchar’s handlers replied that she “would like to attend and would see what could be done to arrange for her appearance.”

However, in the end, it seems that both candidates have bigger fish to fry. Seemingly, our membership, 1275 strong, is not a big enough audience.

The fact that the candidates declined our invitation is indeed unfortunate. Greater Minnesota deserves a senator who will pay attention to the economic needs of our area. Continued support of our local military units, promotion of transportation needs, and economic development are a just few of the issues that we would have discussed had either candidate made the choice to appear at our forum.

In place of their appearance at the forum, we’ll have to rely upon news coverage from the Twin Cities and television commercials depicting them as genuine family leaders. Or, worst scenario, we’ll learn about them from negative commercials designed to paint their opponents as idiots.

But then again, isn’t this is the very reason we’ve all become so cynical of politicians in the first place?