Listing from Pam Garron at TBCN:

Speak Up Presents: Marriage Amendment
Tuesday, August 12 @ 1PM on Verizon 30, Bright House Network 950 and Comcast 20
Friday, August 15 @ 12 PM on Verizon 36 and BHN 949

Speak Up Presents: Mayor Ballot Initiative (on again, off again, on again?)
Saturday, August 16 @ 12 PM on Verizon 30, BHN 950 and Comcast 20
Monday, August 18 @ 1 PM on Verizon 36 and BHN 949

And another recently produced episode that you might be interested in:

Speak Up Presents: Immigration
Wednesday, August 13 @ 12 PM on Verizon 36 and BHN 949
Monday, August 18 @ 11 PM on Verizon 30, BHN 950 and Comcast 20

The event, titled “The Times They-Are-A-Changin’,” featured live music from blues acts Soul2Earth, Rebekah Pulley & the Reluctant Prophets and Roppongi’s Ace, while participants mingled with candidates and checked out Hillsborough’s new voting machines.

An Obama campaigner chats with members of the crowd who stuck around despite a thunderstorm (photo by Amelia Harnish)

“We wanted people to come in and have some fun and talk politics,” said Sally Phillips, president of the GLBTA Caucus. “Our efforts for this are focused on getting out the vote… and to make sure that everyone knows the Democratic Party is here. ”

Among the candidates roaming Skipper’s outdoor bar area were GLBTA Caucus member and endorsee Kevin Beckner, who spoke between sets about the need for Hillsborough County to come together to address “quality of life issues” such as transportation. Beckner is running for the countywide seat on the Hillsborough County Commission now held by Republican Brian Blair.

CFO Alex Sink, Florida’s highest ranking Democrat, and her husband, former governor candidate Bill McBride, also attended. Sink spoke only for a few minutes, but the crowd was pleased with her support. “There is change in the air,” she announced to numerous cheers and whistles.

The forum will take place on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the West Tampa Library, 2312 W. Union St.  Mitch Perry, assistant news director at WMNF 88.5 FM Community Radio, will moderate the forum and ask questions submitted by the audience.

The organizers say to “Call Sally at (813) 382-8172 or Susan at (813) 390-3616 for more information.”

UPDATE: Organizers have added another sponsoring group and sent out this amended notice:

The Public is invited to attend a Judicial Candidate Forum, sponsored by the Hillsborough County GLBTA Democratic Caucus, the Hillsborough County Democratic Black Caucus, the Northwest Hillsborough Democratic Club and DFA Tampa Bay on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the West Tampa Library, 2312 W. Union St., Tampa 33607.  This is an opportunity for voters to meet the candidates for Hillsborough County Circuit Court Judge.  Mitch Perry, Assistant News Director at WMNF (88.5 fm) Community Radio, will moderate the forum and submit questions taken from the audience.

Despite that, on Thursday night three Democratic candidates vying for the chance to run against Young tried to persuade a room full of Pinellas Democrats that they could be the one to replace a career politician with a “citizen legislator.”

Grandmother and self-proclaimed “true patriot” Samm Simpson, Dunedin Mayor Bob Hackworth and millionaire Max Linn answered questions from the Greater Pinellas Democratic Club, which hosted the debate. Although the three are in line with one another on the length of Young’s term and most of the issues, they do have their differences. How to address the nation’s health care dilemma is one, for instance: Linn and Simpson support the single-payer plan, while Hackworth cited a lack of cooperation and said that he would “work across the aisle to fix a system riddled with inefficiency.”

The candidates also butted heads about the economy: Hackworth called for ending the war in Iraq and investing in the infrastructure, while Simpson somehow wandered from fundamental monetary reform to sending people to jail. Linn, who spoke last and proclaimed that neither of his opponents knew what they were talking about, called for reforming NAFTA  — “fair trade, not free trade,” he said — and implementing real estate incentives to get the market going again.

Hackworth, the only one of the three who has been elected to office before, said that it’s going to take bipartisan appeal to beat Young.  “It’s not about winning the room tonight. It’s about proving you can beat Bill Young,” Hackworth said. “That’s the point, and it isn’t going to be easy.”

Linn, who fought for more than a decade to establish term limits and ran for governor on the Reform Party ticket in 2006, said he is the only one who can realistically beat the incumbent. “I will squash Bill Young like a tomato,” he said.

Simpson refers to her campaign as a calling, not a career choice. She stayed late not to shake hands but to hug everyone who approached her, and her compassion seems to work, considering the number of people who came up to speak with her afterward. “I want my country back,” she said.

(Photos by Amelia Harnish)

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