Students Debate Dean

By Justin duRivage
News Editor

Extra chairs were moved into the Frank Blue room and the event started 20 minutes late. Yet despite the delay, last Friday The Pomona Student Union, PSU, opened its first event of the year to a packed house.

Hosted by the PSU, James Soloman ’06 and Jordan Stuart ’04 debated the merits of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean’s candidacy for President and the future of the Democratic Party. Their debate was followed by a public discussion on topics as varied as Dean’s appeal in the South to his foreign policy experience.

The Pomona Student Union is a campus organization whose goal is to foster balanced discussion at Pomona College. The group was formed by students concerned that campus debate, which they considered essential to the liberal educational experience, was dominated by the left.

Sophomore David Levine, who also serves as PSU webmaster and publicity director, was the event’s moderator and made a point of maintaining an evenhanded and balanced debate centered on the former Vermont governor and the Democratic primary.

“This is about Howard Dean and it is not about George Bush and it is not about Iraq,” announced Levine before opening the discussion.

The discussion remained focused on Howard Dean as participants debated the policy proposals and his electability.

Stuart, who interned for Howard Dean last summer, argued that Dean was “not a new England Liberal” and pointed out his moderate record on issues ranging from gun control to balanced budgets.

Calling Dean “the civil unions governor,” Stuart charged that Dean had no hope of attracting swing voters whom he maintained were essential for a Democratic victory against George Bush.

While Stuart disagreed sharply with Solomon, she clearly agreed with him that President George W. Bush had “a record of miserable failure.”

Friday’s discussion about what Democrats will have to do to defeat George W. Bush next November was similar to one that has been rehearsed on the Sunday interview shows and by pundits nationwide.

The audience, among whom Dean supporters seemed more numerous, and panelists argued about whether next year’s election would be defined by foreign policy or by the weak economy. They also debated whether Dean could appeal to moderates in the south and in the suburbs or whether those voters mattered less because Dean would reinvigorate the base of the Democratic party and attract new voters to the electoral process.

In addition to last week’s lunch discussion and debate, PSU is planning numerous other events including lectures, debates, and Friday lunch panels. Levine, as PSU’s webmaster, is also developing an online discussion group for the PSU website [www.pomonasu.com] which he hopes will be a center of political discussion at Pomona. The Union will be hosting Professor Jonathan Adelman, a specialist on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mentor to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on September 24.

Students at the event expressed satisfaction that a new forum of debate was available at Pomona that allowed for both sides of an issue to be discussed.

“It was exciting to see an authentic debate on campus between two students with opposite viewpoints, especially on a topic so timely and important as the 2004 election and the Democratic nomination process,” said Ben Feldman ’05.

Peter Ellingboe ’06, who attended the event and described himself as the “the slave labor of the PSU executive committee” expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the debate. Ellingboe was pleased that the event which had “little planning was such a good success,” attracting a large crowd.

Audience members unaffiliated with the PSU expressed similar sentiments about the quality of the debate.

“During the question period, both the panelists and the questioners seemed to become quite passionate about defending their opinions and that actually helped me to understand each side's position better, because people were forced to support their arguments,” said Feldman.