A few observations about tonight’s WSLS 5th District candidate exchange. If you missed it, we blew out our entire 6pm newscast to focus solely on the issues of this race and to hear from the candidates about how they plan to address them.

Here are a few of my thoughts on what transpired:

- The half hour flew by. Many debates are an hour long, and frankly even that amount of time isn’t enough to cover all the daunting issues that face our country and commonwealth. But there are some big advantages to having a debate at 6pm. It’s one of the most watched time slots on any stations for local news. That means many more people actually saw this exchange than they would have had it aired from 7 to 8pm.

- Both candidates were more aggressive than I expected. Generally, the most heated debates come at the end of a campaign. This exchange was the first meeting of the candidates, and as such, I expected it to be a little less confrontational.

- Having said that, the candidates were never rude to each other and you could sense that neither was disrespectful of their opponent. This isn’t always the case. In fact, I’ve moderated plenty of debates where you could openly feel the animosity the candidates felt toward one another.

- Both gentlemen were also well prepared. They had studied their opponent’s votes and stands on the issues and were ready to lay it out.

- Health care ended up being the most dominate issue of the exchange, which wasn’t what I anticipated. As moderator, sometimes you have to go with the flow. I tried to keep everything on task, but if an issue keeps coming up then it’s probably something that needs to be fully explored. I think we did that tonight.

- Finally, I think this exchange provided a clear road map for where each campaign will be headed for the final two weeks of this campaign. And, given the fireworks we saw tonight, that is likely to be a heated couple of weeks.

I want to express my thanks to the candidates for agreeing to participate in this open, frank conversation. It was slightly unconventional and I think more enlightening that your standard, soundbite driven debate.

Next week we’ll host the 9th district candidates. Keep your questions coming.