College Democrats host debate on primaries

By Lance Dwyer

A forum hosted by the Santa Clara College Democrats allowed spectators to hear where each of the Democratic candidates stood on various issues, but did little to make an impact on the vote they would be making on March 2.

"I don't think anything groundbreaking was said tonight," junior Dan Evans, who came into the forum already leaning towards voting for Edwards, said. "I feel like seeing the actual candidates in a similar forum would have made a bigger impact."

Philosophy professor Scott LaBarge agreed, as he came into the debate unsure of who he would vote for and left in the same state.

"It's never as good having representatives as having the actual people," LaBarge said. "I think two weeks from now, I'll find out what aspects of the debate mattered most to me."

Nevertheless, College Democrats President Jasper Seldin was pleased with the end result of several months of preparation.

"The turnout was better than expected and we felt the speakers did a great job at conveying their candidate's position," Seldin said. "Overall, we thought it was an excellent event."

Seldin estimated that 125 people came in to watch the event at some point throughout the forum.

The forum began with three-minute opening comments by each of the representatives. Larry Stone, Santa Clara County Assessor and former mayor of Sunnyvale, represented John Kerry. Stone said Kerry fits the profile of the man who could bring the Democratic Party back to what he called "the Glory Days," referring to the time period between 1932 and 1968.

"He's someone with progressive ideals and I think, the managerial savvy to implement them," Stone said. "He wants America to lead the world to a state of peace, fair trade, intelligence operations between nations and collaborative environment planning."

Shauna Wilson, director of the Palo Alto Medication Program, spoke next on behalf of Dennis Kucinich. Wilson called Kucinich a man of "conscience," pointing out that Kucinich was the only person to vote against the USA Patriot Act and against going to war. Kucinich "is someone who actually votes his conscience and that is why I support him," Wilson said.

Wilson said she considered it particularly important to be at the forum because of the "media black out" on Kucinich.

"Right now, we're basically only going with the candidate who the media tells us is electable. And the media's chosen Kerry," Wilson said. "I'm asking you on March 2 to think about who speaks to you, in your heart, in your conscience, who's the one that has the stuff that you believe in, and vote for that candidate. He's electable if you vote for him."

Peter Heller spoke last on behalf of John Edwards. In his opening comments, Heller referred to Edwards' trademark "Two Americas" speech. Heller said that Edwards believes that there are two Americas in every aspect of society and it is a problem he seeks to solve.

"What makes John Edwards unique is that he's the one who has articulated this idea of the two Americas and has come up with the most detailed policy plans and solutions to solve that problem," Heller said.

After opening comments, Seldin, along with freshmen Michelle Lanspa, asked the representatives a series of questions regarding issues pertinent to Santa Clara students, including quality and quantity of available jobs, health care, and education.

However, Evans said the representatives did little to identify differences between candidates.

û Contact Lance Dwyer at (408) 554-4546 or at ldwyer@scu.edu.