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Student debate hopes to influence undecided voters With Election Day less than two weeks away, the presidential campaign is in its home stretch and candidates are making their final pleas to voters. The Republicans of Tulane organized a campus debate in Pocket Park on Oct. 25 with the hopes of informing students, persuading more young people to vote and winning a few more young voters for each side's respective candidates. Unlike the national debates, in which third-party candidates were not allowed to participate, four parties were represented at this debate: Democrats, Republicans, Green Party and Libertarians. The debate format was simple. Each party had a two-member panel, and panel members addressed questions put to them by the moderators, Professor Thomas Langston and Brock Tice, or the audience. Each party had a certain number of chances for rebuttal to other parties' answers, and time limits were imposed on each answer. The debate began with opening statements from Project Coordinator Russell Latino. "Show youth care about the freedom they have, and get out and vote," Latino told the audience. Each party then gave an opening statement. Some parties' statements were more pointed than others. Melvin Albritton, Green Party panelist, said, "The refusal of Bush and Gore to include Nader proves that they are fearful they (third-party candidates) could win in a debate with third parties." Republican panelist Kristen Eger said, "Bush promotes choice in how money is spent and education, and will reach across party lines." Democratic panelist Bradley Cousins stated, "We're going to give you specifics about Gore's platform." He spoke briefly about Gore's plans to help education and the environment and his pro-choice stance on abortion. Ben Kalafut, Libertarian panelist, commented on his candidate, "Harry Browne wants you to live life the way you want to live it." He continued to speak about the need to end the government's war on drugs. "The war on drugs is nothing but a war on the people," he stated. After opening statements, the panelists first answered mediators' questions before opening the floor to questions from the audience. The most vocal of all the groups was the Green Party representatives, who used all three of their rebuttals. The Green Party argued that Bush and Gore were too much alike. "There were 47 points of agreement in the last debate. A vote for Gore is a vote for Bush/Gore," Albritton said. He attacked Gore’s abortion stance, saying Gore's previous pro-life statements did not mesh with his pro-choice platform, and he pointed out that Gore voted for conservative Supreme Court Justice Scalia. When asked how the military would fare if Nader were elected president, the Green Party representative stated that Nader's plan was to downsize the military by 75 percent, using this money to make education free for everyone. The Republicans responded, "Bush's plans give a $750 pay increase per officer." They went on to state Bush's plan to stop the deployment of American soldiers to so many foreign countries. Due to a large number of Green Party supporters in the audience, the environment was discussed at length. The Democrats stated Gore's commitment to the environment, while the Green Party stated Gore was "throwing peanuts at us." The moderators introduced two questions. Does Gore have the character to be president, and does Bush have the intelligence? The Democrats cited Gore's environmental commitment. The Republicans cited Bush's work as governor, which the Democrats attacked. The Libertarians, for their part, brought the conversation back to the "war on drugs issue." Kalafut said, "I want to ask to Republicans and Democrats if the world would be a better place if Gore or Bush had gone to jail for their youthful drug experimentations." Another topic of debate was campaign finance reform. In the end, all candidates seemed to be pro reform. Latino concluded the debate by charging students to be informed about the issues and to inform others.
Inside Tulane |
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