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DES MOINES, Iowa – On Sunday, Jan. 19, I attended the We the People Forum in downtown Des Moines. This was the first forum that I have attended and looked forward to seeing multiple candidates responding to a narrower field of questions than I had previously seen.

Six hopeful democratic candidates were attending the event: Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Deval Patrick, Andrew Yang, and John Delany. Buttigieg and Patrick both attended remotely, with Patrick having significant problems with his connection which took away from his time in the spotlight.

Although the main purpose of this forum was to have candidates focus on the “Citizens United” ruling and how to preserve democracy through their administration, most candidates were able to somehow transition into parts of their stump speeches.

Senator Warren, who I have seen before, had parts of her speech ready to go when asked questions and repeated much of what I had heard before. She just adjusted the introductions to her stories to try to tie in questions asked with what her running platform has been so far.

Amy Klobuchar was able to provide information that responded to the questions she was asked. She gave firmer answers to questions like addressing the issue of some people not being registered to vote with automatic registration at the voting age of 18. Pointing out that if Target can find a pair of shoes in another state then the government should be able to register its citizens.

Senator Klobuchar came off as one of the only candidates that was using this forum to address the issues that were the talking points of the evening instead of just another candidate appearance. This made her stand out from the other candidates who were simply making shorter stump speeches to the crowd.

This being my first forum, I was disappointed that the moderators didn’t drill the other candidates more to ensure they fully answered questions that were asked and do better about keeping the candidates on track in general.

At least there was free popcorn, soda, and a variety of swag given away by the sponsors of the forum.