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Student presidential debate focused on economy

By Katie Hee '14

November 1, 2012

The state of the economy, health care and Obama’s leadership capabilities were the focus of Saturday’s student debate during Family Weekend, entitled, “Should Obama be reelected?”

Students and their families filled Bradford Auditorium in Kirner-Johnson to watch members of the Hamilton College Republicans and Democrats engage in debate. Sarah Larson ’15, Brady Sprague ’15 and Kayla Safran ’13 represented the College Republicans. Will Rusche ’13, Jack Cartwright ’15 and Tracy Mazerolle ’15 spoke for the College Democrats.

James S. Sherman Professor of Government Phil Klinkner, who moderated the debate, was unable to declare a winner.
Klinkner commented, “If you’re a Republican, you probably thought the Republicans won. If you’re a Democrat, you probably thought the Democrats won. I think that both sides could declare a victory.”

The debate followed a traditional format beginning with opening statements and rebuttals, before turning to the audience for questions and ending with closing statements from the president of each organization.

Cartwright led with a review of what President Obama accomplished throughout his last term in office: “The past four years can be defined by one word: progress.”

He continued to explain what he sees as positive effects of Obama’s initiatives, including the Affordable Care Act, Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, ObamaCare, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the nation’s continued efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Republicans immediately countered and focused the debate on three issues: the economy, health care and the flaws in President Obama’s leadership. Safran’s opening statement discussed the country’s current economic state, criticized Obama’s leadership abilities as weak and cited health care as “a horrible mess.”

The student debate mirrored those of the candidates with an emphasis on the state of the economy. The Democrats claimed that Obama has taken large strides to recover from the recession, while the Republicans maintain that Obama has not taken the necessary steps to decrease unemployment and reduce the federal deficit.

Mazerolle insisted that Obama was on the path to recovery. She noted that the United States has seen 31 straight months of job growth, insisting that “the economy is not something that can be turned around over night.”

The Republicans criticized the steps Obama has taken, explaining that his policies have increased the federal deficit and his shaky leadership has decreased confidence in the private sector. Sprague advocated that a strong president would encourage reasonable spending, enact permanent tax cuts and create the confidence needed for private investment to flourish.

One member of the audience mentioned that two huge economic collapses occurred after Republican presidents “failed to balance the budget with a ‘trickle-down’ approach” and asked how Romney addressed these historic examples of failures.

Larson insisted that the government needed to allow the private sector to fix the economy, but clarified that, “Mitt Romney is not George Bush. Mitt Romney is not Herbert Hoover.”

The Democrats quickly responded with the question, “if it hasn’t worked in the past, why is it going to work in the future?”
They urged the country to look at history and remember how laissez-faire economics allowed risky lending practices causing international recessions.

The conversation of the debate naturally followed to health care and its impact on the economy. Republican representatives insisted that the increased spending necessary for ObamaCare will not reduce the nation’s deficit. They further criticized Obama’s plan for “disproportionate taxing” and the need to term it “a tax” in order for the Supreme Court to rule it constitutional. Additionally, they claimed that Obama alienated certain groups by passing Obamacare without a single Republican vote.

The Democrats defended Obama, saying that Romney passed a similar bill in Massachusetts. While the Democrats had a majority in both the House and Senate, Obama sought bipartisan support.
Response to the debate was mixed, and while many felt that both groups presented their sides well, a few criticized the Democrats’ public speaking.

Max Schnidman ’14 agreed, stating “I believe that both sides effectively argued their case, but I think that the Republicans were more able to articulate the failures of President Obama than the Democrats were able to respond to them.”

Whether the Democrats or Republicans won the debate, both sides argued important issues that resonated throughout the past year.

Klinkner added, “Hamilton should do more things like this, the debate was a lot of fun.”

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