Gore vs. Kemp gives rise to campus reviews

Friday, October 11, 1996

REACTION:

Republican crowd at Westwood bar elated by Dole’s tax cutBy
Michael Angell

Daily Bruin Staff

As the Cardinals and the Braves played the first game of the
National League Championship to a quiet group of drinkers upstairs,
a more rowdy set of fans were downstairs watching the quadrennial
classic between the Donkeys and the Elephants.

There was nary a Donkey to be seen, though, as Bruin Republicans
hosted a party at Maloney’s to watch the vice presidential debate
and root for Republican vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp as he
took on Vice President Al Gore and the Democratic platform in the
second of three election year debates.

Gore and Kemp stepped up to the plate and fielded questions from
moderator and Public Broadcasting System newscaster Jim Lehrer. No
score was posted at the end, but the crowd felt that Kemp was the
clear winner.

"I think that Jack Kemp had a stellar performance," said Jason
Steele, president of the Bruin Republicans. "He brought up the real
issues and he was the winner, hands down."

But Tristan Sotomayor, former president of the Bruin Democrats,
also watched the debate closely. He feels that Vice President Al
Gore delivered a few back kicks of his own to the former Buffalo
Bills quarterback-turned-politician.

"I thought it was a very interesting debate, very topical, a lot
of important issues were discussed," Sotomayor said. "Both men
definitely performed well, but Gore won the debate."

One of the main issues for Bruin Republicans was the income tax.
Kemp cited Dole’s proposed 15 percent tax cut as the key to helping
the American economy. Throughout the debate, Kemp said that he and
Dole would revise the nation’s overly complex tax laws and replace
it with a simpler system.

In defense of Dole’s tax cut, Kemp said "The economy is
overtaxed, over-regulated. Bob Dole and I believe we can do a lot
better."

Indeed, every time the tax cut was mentioned, the crowd
responded with cheers of approval.

"With Dole’s tax policy, there will be more money in the pockets
of every American," Steele said. "Everybody can keep more of what
they own."

Shannon Seibert, a fourth-year economics student, agreed by
saying that "the (proposed) Republican tax-cut is a wonderful idea
to spur economic growth."

She plans on walking precincts for the Dole-Kemp ticket in Santa
Monica ­ no small feat considering the area is overwhelmingly
Democratic.

"Yeah, I know it will be hard, but I believe in this campaign so
much because it’s going to affect our future," Seibert said.

But Gore said that Dole and Kemp were proposing "a risky $550
billion tax scheme," claiming that the cut would worsen the
national deficit, downsize Medicare and Medicaid, and severely
limit education spending.

"Are we going to vote for Dole, who promised to abolish the
Department of Education, or Clinton who will defend education, the
environment, and a woman’s right to choose?" Sotomayor said.
"Students should consider all theses issues."

While abortion was not mentioned in last Sunday’s presidential
debate, the issue came up Wednesday night as Kemp chided the
president for vetoing a ban on third trimester partial birth
abortions. Kemp’s comment drew hoots of approval from the assembled
crowd, including Republican supporter and UCLA alumna Katheleen
Lopez.

"Dole is more anti-abortion than Clinton," Lopez said. "I’m a
Christian and a Catholic. So this is an important issue to me."

On issues closer to California, Gore brought up Kemp’s recent
endorsement of Proposition 209. Gore called this a reversal of
Kemp’s previous positions supporting affirmative action.

"Al Gore really nailed (Kemp) on affirmative action," Sotomayor
said. "Kemp did not address his change in view."

But Kemp stated that he believed that current affirmative action
policy was not concerned with equal opportunity but an "equal
outcome," drawing even more cheers from the crowd.