Submission #28081 by B'nai Israel Men's Club - Rockville, MD (1103)
2023
I have read the 2023 Torch Awards Program Guidelines.
Political Forum
Community Outreach
Page 1
Every two years, before voters in Maryland begin early voting, the Men's Club holds a political forum featuring candidates for state and local office.
Evcry October in even-numbered years, the Men's Club holds a political forum that regularly features candidates for governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and Montgomery County executive. Some 100-200 congregants and members of the public fill a large meeting room to hear from the candidates. We serve bagels and cream cheese, donuts and coffee, and question the candidates on issues of concern to the attendees. Our moderator is an award-winning political reporter and a former National Press Club president and we use the same format as the nationally televised Press Club luncheons, where attendees submit questions on cards and the moderator sifts through them and picks the most newsworthy and appropriate questions. There are no speeches from the floor by attendees or gotcha questions to make them look bad, only questions seeking detailed answers on the issues and followups. The event is routinely covered by Washington Jewish Week and other media, especially when the gubernatorial candidates come, as they have for the greater part of two decades. During 2020, we did Zoom interviews with the congressional candidates in the two districts where our congregants live, but returned to live events in 2022.
Page 2
Original Program