Questions for mayoral candidates

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m going to be interviewing the candidates for mayor in our small town. It’s a print interview, and they are not getting the questions in advance. All candidates will be interviewed separately, and they will all be asked the exact same questions. They won’t know how the other candidates answered until they see the final article in print.

The serious questions are easy. I know what the major issues are in town. This newspaper, however, isn’t one of the “serious” papers. I am peppering the interview with offbeat questions designed to catch the candidate off guard, and reveal something interesting about them.

I need suggestions.

Please make sure any suggestion you throw out can be answered concisely and precisely. I’m not allowing any waffling. If I don’t feel they’ve answered a question, I’m going to ask for a different answer.

Some of the “offbeat” ideas I have so far include things like

[ul]
[li]Are skunks cute indigenous wildlife to preserve, or a scourge to be eliminated?[/li][li]Who’s your favorite Presidential candidate?[/li][li]Do you prefer dogs or cats?[/li][li]Beef or venison?[/li][/ul]

(yes, it’s a small rural town in the wilderness)

So what should I ask?

Thanks!

2

Ginger or Mary Ann?

3

If you are in a solitary place and you hear this (soft foot taps), how does that make you feel?

4

Two out of the three candidates are women. That would make a very interesting question!

I skipped the “boxers or briefs” question for similar reasons (and because I really, really don’t want to know the answer for one of the candidates).

5

What is your favorite gun?
Have you ever tipped a cow?
Bigfoot: real or myth?
What is the airspeed of an unladen swallow?
Which is more important, justice or law?
What is your favorite non-local sports team?
Xbox 360, Wii, or Playstation 3?
Should Pluto be a planet?

6

Good stuff. I like your gun question better than mine, and number five (justice or law) would be very insightful – especially since one candidate is a lawyer. The last one would be cool just to see if any of them have a clue what the issue is!

7

What are the ten commandments?

Should Dihydrogen Monoxide be removed from our drinking water?

8

Hmmm. I’d thought about asking if the ten commandments should be posted in City Hall (or the schools), but I hadn’t thought about seeing if they could actually name all ten of them. Interesting twist!

9

Opinions are best found in IMHO, not GQ. Moved.

samclem GQ moderator

10

My opinion is this:

If you are interviewing MAYORAL candidates, you shouldn’t worry because no one is going to read it anyway.

11

Oh, you don’t know this town (or this newspaper). People are talking a lot more about prospective mayors right now than they are about prospective presidents.

12

I’d love to take credit for that question, but you did see this video, right?

13

When did you stop beating your spouse?
Who would win in a cage match: Big Foot or the Abominable Snowman?
What would you do to prevent Britney Spears or Paris Hilton from moving to town?

14

No, I hadn’t seen it. That’s great! I love it!

Perfect!

Many heads are, indeed, better than one. Keep 'em coming, please!

15

Ask them how they feel about having sexual affairs with TV reporters who do stories about them.

If we here in Los Angeles had asked our mayor that before the election…