Here come your candidates

Political eyes today will be zeroing in on the gubernatorial showdown at the Coeur d'Alene library. Thanks to the Coeur Group, the top three challengers for Idaho governor will square off at high noon before what promises to be a packed room.

Starting next week, you'll be able to watch local candidates debate - almost anywhere and anytime you wish.

For the first time, The Press is scheduling private 30-minute sessions when a journalist will question the two candidates competing for each county and local state legislative seat. We'll be hosting these sessions all week, recording them on video and posting them promptly on cdapress.com.

We're doing our best to ensure both candidates in each contested race are able to participate, but if there are any no-shows or otherwise noncompliant candidates, we'll conduct a one-on-one interview with the candidate who attends. He or she will have the whole half hour to herself or himself. Voters can infer what they wish of candidates' decision not to share their views with local citizens.

Why try something new? Candidate forums are too cumbersome, often poorly attended and, in our humble opinion, they don't offer much in the way of illumination for voters. Our hope is that these more focused video sessions will provide voter insights print alone can't offer. Also, online commenters will be able to discuss and debate the merits of what the candidates have to say. There might be some value in that.

While the video sessions will be posted on cdapress.com next week, The Press will also be completing in-depth interviews with all the local candidates in races which will be contested Nov. 4. Those stories will be printed the last week of October, running front and center in the paper so nobody can miss them. Of course, the stories will also be posted on cdapress.com.

In the meantime, we encourage readers to write short letters of support for the candidates they favor. A large turnout might not be in the cards this election season, but the goal of having informed voters cast ballots is within reach.