🎙️ The Forum Paradox: Why MD‑05’s Frontrunners Are Sitting Out the Stage
By Barry O’Connell — The Maryland Wire
There’s a quiet truth in Maryland’s 5th Congressional District that nobody wants to say out loud: candidate forums don’t help the candidates who are winning.
This cycle has made that painfully obvious. Adrian Boafo — widely viewed as the frontrunner — has skipped most of them. Harry Dunn, sitting in second place in fundraising and name recognition, has skipped nearly as many.
And honestly? It’s rational.
Not admirable.
Not inspiring.
But strategically rational.
The Math: Why a Frontrunner Gains Nothing
A frontrunner walks into a candidate forum with one possible outcome: lose ground.
They can’t gain name ID — they already have it.
They can’t gain legitimacy — they already have it.
They can’t gain momentum — they already have it.
But they can:
- get clipped into a bad moment
- get ambushed by a desperate rival
- get forced into a position they don’t want
- get booed by a room of activists who don’t represent the electorate
- get dragged into a fight that only helps the underdogs
In a low‑turnout primary, the risk‑reward ratio is brutal.
A frontrunner’s job is to protect the lead, not audition for it.
The Audience Problem: Who Are You Even Talking To?
Let’s be honest about turnout.
Most forums in MD‑05 this year have drawn:
- 20–40 people
- at least half of whom are candidates, staff, or family
- the other half being hyper‑engaged activists who already know their vote
That’s not a representative electorate.
That’s a civic hobbyist club.
The Bowie State forum on May 27 proved the point.
The photos tell the story: as many people on stage as in the audience.
And even if you wanted to hear the candidates?
Good luck.
The Sound Quality Crisis
This is the part nobody talks about, but it’s real:
Most candidate forums are unlistenable.
Bad mics.
Bad mixing.
Bad room acoustics.
Bad livestream setups.
You can’t persuade voters with audio that sounds like it was recorded inside a tin can rolling down a flight of stairs.
Even the most dedicated political junkies — and I include myself — can’t decipher half the answers.
That means even when a forum is recorded, the usable audience is effectively zero.
The exception this year?
The South County Democratic Club forum run by Courtney Finklea Green.
Good crowd.
Good distribution.
Good video.
And most importantly: excellent audio.
That shouldn’t be rare.
But it is.
Who Actually Benefits From Forums?
Here’s the hierarchy — and it’s not close.
1. The low‑tier candidates
They get legitimacy, footage, and a chance to be seen as “real.”
A forum is their only equalizer.
2. The mid‑tier candidates
They get contrast opportunities.
They get to land punches.
They get to show they belong in the conversation.
3. The political clubs
They get relevance, photos, and a sense of civic purpose.
4. The activists
They get facetime and the feeling of being insiders.
5. The frontrunners
They get… nothing.
Except risk.
This is why Boafo and Dunn are skipping.
Not because they’re disengaged.
Because the structure of modern forums makes attendance a strategic liability.
The Forum Paradox
Candidate forums are supposed to be civic education tools.
In practice, they’ve become:
- low‑attendance
- low‑impact
- low‑quality
- high‑risk
They help the people trying to climb.
They hurt the people trying to stay on top.
And unless the production quality improves — audio first, everything else second — the gap between who benefits and who shows up will only widen.