College Republicans pleased with McCain’s fight

Twenty-five members of the IU College Republicans hooted, hollered, clapped and cheered as Sen. John McCain made his case for the presidency at a debate they weren’t sure was going to happen.

Some of the issues members wanted to hear about were the theme of the night – national defense – along with perhaps the biggest issue of the election following the fall of the Dow Jones & Co. in the previous week: the economy.

Justin P. Hill, political director of IU College Republicans and chairman of IU Students for John McCain, said he thought the debate hinged on McCain’s ability to come out strong and present his argument well.

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“He’s always been a person that’s been tentative to speak up on the economy and what he feels is strongest for the economy,” he said. “He must have a commanding voice.”

Hill said he thought the debate was important for several reasons, the main one being that it could set the tone for the upcoming debates and give McCain control over the way the next debates will run overall.

“I’d also like him to set up for Sarah Palin in the October 2 vice-presidential debate,” Hill said.

McCain did not disappoint his IU constituents, and, as the debate went on, his comments were met with a smattering of applause, smiles, laughter and cheers from the members of the IU College Republicans, who said they thought McCain displayed more poise and presented his platforms in a more effective manner than Sen. Barack Obama.

“I feel it’s been going pretty well for Senator McCain,” said member Taylor Wingo. “I feel like he’s stating his piece. He’s done a little bit of mudslinging, but, for the most part, he’s done a pretty good job of just stating the facts. I respect that.”

Other members of the group agreed.

They also said they thought McCain did a good job of defending against Obama’s criticisms during the debate and of proving his main points. However, they also said they thought McCain could have done a better job in some areas.

“He needs to be more assertive when answering questions,” said member Ashley Freije. “He needs to be more on the offense instead of just defending what Obama is saying against him.”

As the debate came to a close, members said they thought McCain proved himself to undecided voters and had effectively won.

“I feel like Obama’s been on the backtrack most of the time,” said member Jacob Quinn. “McCain keeps attacking so Obama has to defend himself for most of the debate so far. He’s laid out his policies well. Some people don’t know exactly about his policies, so I think he did a good job of that tonight.”