Students for McCain, Obama face off

The Democrats called John McCain “only 90 percent Bush.”

The Republicans said “we can’t leave Iraq too soon.”

The Democrats fear a McCain administration would be a “gradual chipping away at women’s rights.”

The Republicans fear Barack Obama has “the most radical view on abortion.”

It was all part of the face-off between IU’s Students for Barack Obama and Students for John McCain on Thursday night in a debate mostly filled with pre-meditated speeches that only grew into a heated debate on hot topics, such as the economy, social security, abortion and energy independence.

The debate took place in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, which was filled to capacity and had standing room only for most of the forum.

At the top of voters’ concerns this election is the economy, and both sides disagreed on how to fix it.

The Students for Barack Obama emphasized that McCain will continue the President Bush tax cuts for those earning more.

Ranger Mack, a junior who debated for the Obama side, called both Bush and McCain “out of touch with the general American public,” adding that “the middle class is now suffering.”

But the McCain camp argued the tax cuts show how McCain wants small businesses to grow in the U.S. They also emphasized his experience.

“John McCain’s fought for us in the past, and he’s going to fight for us in the future on the economy,” said sophomore Sean Kelley, referring to McCain’s time serving in Vietnam as a prisoner of war.

The privatization of social security also sparked the two sides into debate, with the Students for John McCain in support of it, saying it would keep people from putting their money into a big pool that would only get allocated elsewhere.

“What you pay in, you get back,” said junior Shawn Azman, events director for College Republicans, of McCain’s plan for social security. “I don’t see how that could be a bad thing.”

But President of College Democrats senior Anna Strand said privatizing social security “is not a risk we can take.” She added “you cannot gamble with the money that people live on, the money that people eat with, the money that people buy their medicine with.”

Abortion remained another hot topic of the night, with junior Pat Buschman, secretary of College Republicans, saying McCain feels it should be left up to the states to decide. Obama’s camp simply said they never wanted it to get to the point of overturning Roe v. Wade, adding that resources should be devoted to sex education and prevention.

Strand said she is “terrified of McCain and Palin” because they will “set women back as second-class citizens.” She said a woman’s right to choose is not the only issue, adding that, “it’s not about abortion. It’s about choice, and it’s about prevention.”

But junior Chelsea Kane, chairwoman for College Republicans, said abortion wasn’t just about women’s rights, but about men’s and children’s rights as well.

“I can take away that life without even a second thought,” Kane said of a woman’s ease to get an abortion. “We’re not giving men the choice, and we’re not giving due consideration for these children.”

Junior Elliot Robinson attended the debate and said he felt both sides “diverted focus on issues not so important” but added he was surprised on how evenly split the room tended to be between the two candidates. However, he said he came in an Obama supporter and left the same.

“They didn’t convince me,” he said.

Holly Venhuizen, a freshman who attended the debate in support of McCain, added that though she also wasn’t swayed, she felt it was good to hear the sides of both candidates right after each other.

“I do feel more informed on a bipartisan level,” she said.

Kane concluded that though she was glad the two sides could debate she knew that “we have the same goal but different ways to get there.”

Buschman agreed, saying, “This debate right here is a staple of our democracy.”