News-Letter

Media Credit: Britni Crocker Democrats (left) and Republicans (right) debated on Tuesday in teams of three.

David Byrnes and Daniel Marans have been friends for nearly two years. They have been debating politics with each other for just as long.

Last Tuesday, exactly one week before the presidential election, Brynes and Marans squared off, along with their peers from the College Republicans and College Democrats, for an organized student debate coordinated by the College Democrats.

While the debaters touched on most of the major issues discussed in the televised presidential debates, the tone of this debate was strikingly different from those between candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.

"I'm impressed with . . . how informed both sides were. It was refreshing to hear substantive policy proposals," co-moderator and public policy graduate student Darryn Jones said.

Throughout the hour-long debate the participants veered away from the moderators' questions and the usual talking points heard in the presidential debates to discuss the differences in their parties' fundamental ideologies.

"In some cases they avoided the questions for emotional reasons and started talking about how Republicans are this, Democrats are that, socialism, free markets, etc." Jones said.

While the candidates in the presidential and vice presidential debates often veered into personal attacks against each other, in Charles Commons, the College Democrats and Republicans brought nearly every question back to fundamental differences: big versus small government and redistribution versus free market.

The Republicans accused Obama's health care plan of being "socialist in principle and anti-American." On the other hand, the Democrats decried McCain's plan for "taxing one of the most vital things for middle and upper-middle class Americans."

There were a few limited instances of attacks on a candidate's character.

"I would like to talk about how Obama is a liar," Byrnes said.

In an audience of about 25, approximately 70 percent was in support of Obama, 25 percent for McCain and five percent undecided, Byrnes managed to elicit laughs from nearly the entire crowd.

His reference to "Pelosi's Democratically-infested Congress," drew particularly strong laughs from the overwhelmingly Democratic crowd.

Continued...

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