Bruins debate policies of Bush and Kerry
By Tami Vuong
May 27, 2004 9:00 p.m.
Correction Appended
Bruins for Kerry and Students for Bush gathered in a crowded
classroom Thursday night for their first debate focusing on the
presumed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and incumbent
President Bush.
In front of an audience of approximately 40 students, many of
whom were supporters of either Kerry or Bush, a six-person panel
debated over the economy and foreign policy.
To open, Alex Mikealian, a fifth-year political science and
public policy student, asked his fellow debaters for a clean,
substantive debate.
“No rhetoric, let’s talk about facts,” he
said.
The first topic of debate was the economy, focusing on gas
prices, job growth and deficit spending.
On the Students for Bush side, Mikealian argued that
Kerry’s solution to use U.S. oil reserves to lower gas prices
is inefficient. He also discussed job growth under Bush, saying
Bush’s economic policies had created 1.3 million jobs.
Fellow Students for Bush debater Brian Cayton, a third-year
aerospace engineering and history student, pointed out that
economies will fluctuate up and down, noting that “everything
that was bad about the economy started under (President)
Clinton.”
“Bush’s economics have been good,” he
said.
Bruins for Kerry, however, called the economic situation
“abysmal.”
Sean Kolodji, a third-year political science and history student
said Bush’s tax cuts have decreased government revenue while
the government spending has increased.
Doug Ludlow, a third-year history, economics and political
science student argued that Kerry’s proposed tax cuts would
benefit the middle and lower classes, and not just the upper class,
as he said Bush’s tax cuts do. He also claimed that job
growth has decreased by 2.9 million jobs.
“Bush has failed in a lot of places,” Ludlow
concluded.
The second issue of debate focused on foreign policy,
particularly the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism.
Becky Mangold, a fourth-year political science student, opened
the foreign policy part of the debate for Bruins for Kerry. Mangold
said Bush has shown numerous failures, ranging from the evidence he
gave to justify the war, which has been called into question many
times, to his failures at post-war planning.
Ludlow added that the war was encouraging terrorism and
alienating allies.
“You cannot kill terrorism by killing terrorists,”
Ludlow said.
Students for Bush responded by saying the United Nations is
unwilling and incapable of fighting battles. Therefore, the United
States must take action to protect the world from terrorism.
“The United States is the surgeon of the world,”
said Jonathan Cayton, a Bush proponent and Brian’s
brother.
In his closing speech, Jonathan said the Kerry side was merely
“Bush bashing,” and that “they haven’t said
anything about what Kerry will do” to improve upon the
nation’s situation.
In the closing arguments for Kerry’s side, Ludlow said
Kerry was the clear choice between “failed leadership and a
leader for new times.”
Debate participants agreed that though both sides were
occasionally heated, the debaters behaved in an organized and
respectful manner.
“I thought it went really good and was well
presented,” Cayton said.
“But I thought the Kerry group really backed away from a
lot of the questions. We want to know what Kerry is planning to do.
They can’t back up his ideas because they don’t
exist,” he added, voicing a criticism expressed by several
Bush supporters in the audience.
But Ludlow said in his closing statement that the Bush
supporters spent the debate merely defending Bush’s policies,
while failing to properly critique Kerry.
Debate moderator Scott Nenni, a third-year political science
student and president of Bruins for Kerry, said there was less
disorder than in past debates.
“I think it was very successful with a lot more energy. In
past debates, order broke down quickly,” he said.
Mangold agreed that the debate was successful.
“I thought it was a really productive debate. We covered a
lot of the most important issues and both candidates’
positions were well represented,” Mangold said.
Correction: June 3, 2004,
Wednesday
Alex Mikaelian’s name was misspelled.
