Meet your candidates over a beer

A different kind of candidate forum will take place tomorrow night on the eastern edge of downtown Tulsa.

KRMG, Urban Tulsa Weekly, Marshall Brewing Company, and TYpros are sponsoring a "Beer Summit & Political Mixer" from 5:30 to 7:30 on Tuesday, August 18, 2009, at the Fly Trap Music Hall, 2nd and Greenwood (514 E. 2nd St.). From the story in this week's UTW:

"I think it's an event for people of all ages to come out and learn about the candidates," said Drew Anderssen, KRMG's operations manager and program director.

Anderssen acknowledged the difficulty his own station has had in providing enough air time to adequately present the views of so many candidates, and he said an event of this nature would provide concerned voters with the chance to hear from candidates on a one-to-one basis.

"I think that's really the goal," he said. "When you have only so many pieces of the pie, it's tough. That's what this event is all about. And we're counting on Tulsans of all ages to come out and support it."

Anderssen said KRMG's morning news team of Joe Kelley, Rick Couri and Dan Potter will introduce the candidates at the event, but he anticipates an informal arrangement from that point on, with audience members quizzing the candidates.

"It's an informal way for people to come out after work and enjoy happy hour and meet the people who are vying for votes," he said.

While I don't think this can substitute for, say, a real debate between the leading candidates in the Republican mayoral primary, it should be an informative and fun evening. It will be interesting to see which candidates risk having a couple of beers (and how they react to those beers) and which stick to Diet Coke.