Only a couple of days after Santa Monica College campus police pepper sprayed upwards of 30 students while they protested a Board of Trustees meeting, the members of the Associated Students and Inter-Club Council hosted the first of a series of town-hall style debates for California's new 33rd Congressional district.
There were two democrats present, Tim Pape and Zein Obagi, the latter the more conservative of the two, and a young, smart Republican candidate, Christopher David, 25, who is part of the Republican Liberty Caucus and helps head up the phone bank for the Ron Paul Los Angeles headquarters.
David Steinman, the only Green on the ballot, whose staff helped put the debate together, and me, Steve Collett, a Libertartian, were the only two candidates not part of the two-party system, where the Democrats seem to have the strongest influence.
Henry Waxman, the incumbent, who has voted with the money 70% of the time, according to SopaTrack, was not present.
As it was on a college campus, Education Policy was the top issue. In a night that brought up many conversations, from ending the war on drugs to ending the wars overseas.
Click here to see is an excerpt of a question from a student who was also present at the Board of Trustees meetings.
After the town-hall style conversation was over many students came up to meet the candidates and exchange ideas.
As Waxman wanes and a new breed of citizen candidates emerges, the one thing that is certain is that any of the candidates I shared the stage with at Santa Monica College would be a welcomed change to Congress.
