The political forums on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway have been rescheduled to include Republican Governor Sean Parnell, who is expected to appear with his challengers Ralph Samuels and Bill Walker on August 19, just five days before the statewide primary election. But don’t expect repeat appearances from candidates on the Democratic primary ballot. They haven’t been invited.

“The only reason is that we haven’t had anyone ask for [the Democrats],” says forum organizer Diana Straub, adding that she thinks Matanuska Valley voters had good chance to meet both Ethan Berkowitz and Hollis French at the previous forums. “They were able to ask them questions, and I think they were satisfied with the answers they got,” Straub says.

When Sean Parnell failed to show up for the previous forums (his campaign said the governor was too busy to attend both nights, an odd prerequisite for participating in the original pair of forums) Straub says she got lots of feedback from people concerned they had not heard from the leading GOP candidate. Straub says she has an RSVP returned from Parnell’s campaign this time around. The question “Where is Parnell?” has become a theme for the 2010 campaign, at least for Bill Walker or Ralph Samuels, the governor’s most serious challengers. In May, Parnell missed a Fairbanks event. The August event in the Valley gives him a shot an audience he missed twice in June.

It was also no surprise that Walker and Samuels made political hay out of the no-show at the forum, which was broadcast on live radio in Southcentral and on the North Slope. (The Mat-Su forums were simulcast on KAYO, 100.9 FM, KMBQ 99.7 FM and KBYR 700 AM. Straub says the stations include podcasts on their web sites.)

“We’ve added [a forum] and we’ve rearranged a little,” Straub told Flashlight. “Just before you vote they are all going take the gloves of and let the natural gas flow.”

scott@anchoragepress.com