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Kiss and Sell Dept.
In their quest to land one of Boston’s four at-large City Council seats, the eight remaining candidates have shaken more hands and kissed more behinds than anyone probably should in swine-flu season.

In their quest to land one of Boston’s four at-large City Council seats, the eight remaining candidates have shaken more hands and kissed more behinds than anyone probably should in swine-flu season. When they first embarked on the campaign trail, however, they surely didn’t imagine they’d have to get this intimate.

Earlier this week, six of the eight paired up with local residents in very close encounters in an event in Roxbury called “Speed Candidating.” Organized by local nonpartisan groups including Civic Engagement Initiative — the mission of which is to increase voter participation in disadvantaged parts of Boston and Chelsea — the event attracted nearly 100 would-be voters to Hibernian Hall on Dudley Street for the opportunity to spend 10 minutes with each at-large candidate on five preordained topics.

The crowd was split into discussion groups, one each for schools, nightlife, green space, job development, and civic engagement. Unlike similar events and debates where inquiries tend to be abstract and easygoing, the mostly twentysomething participants brought specific concerns and expected candidates to be equally forthcoming.

“It allowed people to get up close and personal with the names and faces that they’ve seen mostly in literature,” says organizer George “Chip” Greenidge Jr. of Greatest Minds and the National Black College Alliance. “The candidates said they loved it, too — even though they couldn’t give their stump speeches.”

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