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NEWS
| October 14, 2004
Elections
Debate focuses on domestic issues
Undecided voters weigh how this
last debate will affect the way they vote.
By Robert
Kleeman
Contributor to The Shorthorn
President Bush and Sen. Kerry debated domestic policy issues at
the final presidential debate Wednesday. Some undecided students
said the debate has influenced how they will vote.
The event, held at the University of Arizona, was moderated by CBS
News anchor Bob Schieffer and covered issues including same-sex
unions, abortion, the economy, health care, education and affirmative
action. Shakera Crawley, broadcast news junior, said she votes independently
primarily because party affiliation would tie her hands too tightly.
An undecided voter, Crawley said the debate swayed her original
push for Bush toward Kerry. The debate proved Kerry has a more sound
approach toward the security of the nation, she said.
“Labels are less important in America,” Crawley said.
“I vote for the lesser of the two evils. Tonight’s debate
answered my questions, which will help me in deciding who I want
to vote for.”
Bush continued his assault on Kerry’s voting record, saying
his senate votes contradicted the rhetoric behind his proposed policies.
“There is a mainstream in politics,” he said. “He
[Kerry] is on the far left side of the stream. He voted 98 times
in the senate to increase taxes and yet he wants you to believe
that he supports tax cuts for the middle class.”
Kerry is a tax-and-spend liberal unaware of the economic costs of
his wishy-washy policies, Bush said. Kerry’s preaching about
fiscal responsibility when his proposed actions would lead this
country back into a recession, he said.
Kerry restated his position that Bush is the only president in 72
years to lose jobs. Because of the current president, too many Americans
are without quality health care, job losses are being subsidized
by outsourcing, and the recent tax cut gave the country’s
top 1 percent 89 billion dollars that could have gone to the middle
class or to properly fund No Child Left Behind, Bush’s education
reform act, Kerry said.
“This president lecturing to me about fiscal responsibility
is like Tony Soprano telling me about law and order,” Kerry
said. “I blame the president for what he could have done.
The president has turned his back on the wellness of America.”
College Republicans President Kat Miller said Bush stumbled a bit
but brushed off the bruises and stayed on his course.
“Bush hesitates when he discusses the war in Iraq,”
she said. “I think there is a lot of classified information
that he wishes he could tell us, but he knows that in order to protect
our security, he can’t. Other than that, he did very well.”
Miller said she was disappointed in the lack of new information
provided by the candidates. Affirmative action, gay marriage and
faith were the only topics that did not provoke recycled answers,
she said. It was a very risky political move for Kerry to bring
up the sexuality of Vice President Cheney’s daughter, she
said.
University Democrats President Carl Blair said trickle-down economic
policies, which Bush supports, have been proven ineffective in capitalist
societies. Economic organizations have stated the recession started
March 21, two months after Bush took office, he said.
History senior Brett Cervantes is pro-Bush but said he would like
to see the conservative party move away from the moderate views
of the center. Live television debates only reinforce his viewpoints,
he said.
Television debates allow the voters to connect with the candidates,
sociology senior Nichole Conwill said.
Conwill is a Nader supporter who will choose her vote based on the
projected results. If the race appears to be close, she said she
would vote for Kerry. Wednesday’s debate was dominated by
Kerry, who showed he is prepared to lead the nation as commander
in chief, she said.
Political science senior Grady Hill III who is very concerned with
the economy and the war in Iraq, said the debate did not make his
decision any easier.
“Both parties have issues that I do or don’t support,”
he said. “I am undecided because I support the candidate,
not the party. I feel clearer about the candidates’ positions
but the debate didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already
know about the candidates.”
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