College Dems discuss candidates

Students gathered in Myers Hall Wednesday night to learn about the democratic candidates currently competing for the party's nomination. \nCoordinated by the IU College democrats, representatives for four of the seven candidates summarized their positions for an attentive audience.\n"You hear a lot of sound-bytes on the news," said Peter Cheun, vice president for the CDs. "Hopefully this will give people a better outlook on what the candidates are about." \nCandidates represented at Wednesday's forum were former Gen.Wesley Clark, Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn. While the presentations focused on a variety of issues, each representative emphasized the candidate's ability to defeat President Bush in the November election. \nSarah Curtiss, public relations representative at IU for Clark, said she believes Clark has the best chance of beating Bush because he has the ability to pull in the moderate votes.\nOn the other hand, senior Leah Nahmias, a volunteer for Howard Dean's campaign, said she thinks a stronger democratic nominee is needed to defeat Bush. \n"We need to stand up for things that democrats believe in, and Dean does," Nahmias said. "democratic 'conventional wisdom' has lost us the House, the Senate, and the White House." \nFollowing the four presentations, the audience was given the opportunity to ask questions. The representatives, though eager to answer questions, paused to remind audience members they were not experts. \nOne audience member questioned the logic of the Democratic Party. Since the party wants to defeat Bush, he wondered why the candidates continue to compete with each other for funding and support rather than focus on defeating Bush.\nWhile Alex Bracke, a grassroots representative for Kerry, said he hopes there is a definite candidate by March 3, he does not think the lack of consensus will hurt the Democratic campaign. \n"I welcome the opposition," Bracke said. "It's healthy for a political system." \nKombiz Lavasany, deputy director of Ballot Access for Lieberman's campaign, said he believes the competition has increased the party's credibility. \n"With so many people coming out to vote for different candidates, the numbers against Bush are rising," he said.\nDespite their diverse backgrounds and differing political views, all panelists agreed the competition for the Democratic nomination has attracted attention. \n"If we continue to have competitive primaries, the news media will give us lots of free publicity," said Morgan Tilleman, financial vice president for the CDs.\nAngel Rivera, president of IU College Republicans, said he is not concerned about the outcome of the primaries. He said he thinks all of the Democratic candidates will be easy to defeat.\nThough Rivera will not be faced with the challenge of choosing a candidate for this year's election, he recognizes the importance of an informed voter. \n"It's always good to educate the students and help them make a smart choice," he said.\nFreshman Libby Pfancuff said the session was very informative, and it has heightened her level of interest. Though she remains undecided, she plans to begin researching candidates on the Internet. \nEven though junior Brienne Delaney said she learned nothing from the forum, she did not find it useless. \n"This was a great idea," Delaney said. "It's raising awareness, and that's the most important part."\n-- Contact staff writer Vanessa Caruso at vcaruso@indiana.edu.