Monday, October 22, 1984
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 86, Number 37
Reagan fans gather to watch debate
By Paul Ertelt
Of the Emerald
The Reagan-Bush supporters
who were gathered at the Sigma
Nu fraternity Sunday night ig
nored Edwin Newman’s ad
monitions and applauded loud
ly for their favorite candidate.
Approximately 50 people
showed up at the fraternity to
watch the televised presidential
debate. Though their opinion
was admittedly biased, most
later agreed that President
Ronald Reagan won ‘‘hands
down.”.
“I was a little concerned,”
„ admitted Ron Munion, campus
. director of Students for Reagan
Bush ’84. He conceded that
Walter Mondale was the. victor
in the first televised confronta
. tion, but after th°e debate said -
' “the Gipper is back.”
“Mondale had some good
points (in the .last debate), but
. Reagan showed the style he
showed with Carter in. 1980.” *
,. ‘‘Mondale' held his own,”
said Steffanie Jones-, a senior in '
economics. "I don’t think he ..
did a bad job. but iSn not as im-'.
Ron Munion
pressed as I was with the last
debate.”
But for anyone who has been
following the campaign, the
debate offered litttle that was
new concerning the candidates’
positions on the issues, Jones
said.
Jones said the economy is the
most important issue and said
she supports the president
because of his economic
policies. The nuclear arms race
is another important issue, she
said.
”1 don’t think (Reagan’s) ad
ministration has posed any
more of a threat to the Russians
than any other administration,"
Jones said. "I don’t think we’ve
made much progress in the
arms race (under Reagan), but I
don’t think he has made things
any Worse.” .
Jones also said, she sees no
signs of the.gender gap, the oft- •
debated idea that men' voters
support Reagan, more .than
women voters/
• "Most women i know do-siip- "•
port Reagan.” she said. ”1 don’t
really see any evidence of the
Democrats supporting women’s
rights any more than Reagan.
He’s offering more. oppor
tunities (for women) because of
his economic policies.”
Not all of those watching the
debate at the fraternity were
members of the Reagan camp.
One woman, who said she was
only looking for a place to
watch the debate, sported a
Mondale-Ferraro button.
The woman, who wished to
remain anonymous, said she
was visiting Eugene from Ann
Arbor, Mich. She said she. was
surprised that there were so
many college-age people sup
porting Reagan.
Reagan is the “least compas
sionate” of presidents, the
v- 4 £
t*h«ito h» Mithael (lapp
Jerry Sybers.a Sigma Nu pledge and young Reagan fan, delivers a pep talk at the fraternity before
the debate. Says Sybers, “People are beginning to take the Republicans seriously.” .
woman- said, -.and found it
"scary’r that young people sup
ported him.
However, most- college
students who criticize Reagan
do so out of ignorance, and have
not "really studied the issues,”
said Lori Armstrong, a junior
majoring in journalism.
Reagan often "steps out of
line and comes up with new
ideas,” but those ideas are often
considered "shocking” before
they are studied closely, Arm
strong said.
Reagan’s plan for developing
a space-based defense system is
one of those new ideas that
should be considered, she said.
That ^>lan, often referred to as
the “Star Wars” defense, was
one area where the candidates
differed in the debate.
•' Reagan contended that a
system designed to destroy
. enemy nuclear missiles would
prevent’a nuclear attack and be
• more humane than a policy of
nuclear retribution. Mondale
said he supported the idea in
theory, but said the plan is not
practical and would be too ex
pensive. He also opposes shar
ing the technology with the
Soviet Union.
Though Sigma Nu hosted the
Reagan-Bush gathering, not all
house members support
Reagan, said Jerry Sybers, a*
Sigma Nu pledge and senior
majoring in finance and
political science.
“Sigma Nu really represents a
cross section of the University,”
Sybers said. “There is one
member who is an avowed
communist.”
But the majority of the frater
nity’s members are
Republicans, he said. Sybers
sees a “new movement of con
servativism” throughout the na
tion, especially among the
young!
“People are beginning to take
the Republicans seriously,” he
said. On the other hand,
“stagflation, passivity in inter
national relations, and high
unemployment” discredited
the Democrats, he said.
Doug Green, state director for
Students for Reagan-Bush ’84,
declared Sunday’s debate the
death knell for Mondale’s
presidential aspirations.
Accusations fly during presidential debate
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Walter
Mondale said Sunday night that Presi
dent Reagan is an out-of-touch leader
whose foreign policy has "humiliated”
the United States. Reagan retorted in the
climactic campaign debate that Mondale
has a "record of weakness. . .that is se
cond to none” on national defense.
Mondale’s goal throughout the 90
minutes was to ignite a late surge to vic
tory, and in his closing argument, he
asked viewers to imagine the United
States under nuclear attack:
“Pick a president that you know will
know — if that tragic moment ever
comes — what he must know. Because
there will be no time for staffing, com
mittees or advisers. A president must
know right then.”
Reagan, bidding to protect a substan
tial lead in the polls, had the final words
and said, “I want more than anything
else to try to complete the new beginning
that we charted four years ago.”
“It may come as a surprise to Mr. Mon
dale, but 1 am in charge,” Reagan had
replied tartly after his Democratic oppo
nent assailed his policies on arms con
trol. Lebanon, Central America and
elsewhere.
“I will keep us strong,” was Mon
dale’s reply after Reagan listed a series of
weapons that he said his presidential op
ponent had once opposed. He said that
as a result of the president’s policies in
Central America, ‘‘we have been
humiliated and our opponents are
stronger.”
There was no obvious gaffe by either
man during the televised debate coming
16 days before the election, with Reagan
holding leads calculated at 10 to 25
percentage points in the public opinion
polls. Mondale gained points in those
polls on the basis of his performance in
their first debate two weeks ago in
Louisville, Ky., and he walked onto the
stage in Kansas City with the same goal
in mind.
The Democratic challenger made no
claim of victory at a campaign rally after
wards, but said the evening
demonstrated that he, not Reagan,
would be a “real commander in chief
who would take charge.”
“Tonight, despite all the embarrass
ment of that covert action in Nicaragua,
which has strengthened our enemies, 1
think 1 heard the president, the com
mander in chief, blame somebody else,”
he said. “Tonight, despite all the
tragedy in Lebanon, I think I heard the
president, the commander in chief,
blame it on somebody else.”
The debate began and ended with a
handshake at center stage, but in bet
ween the gestures of courtesy, Reagan
and Mondale traded sharply worded
charges of weakness.
Reagan said that is Mondale’s record.
Mondale said Reagan is ignorant of some
essentials needed for leadership, and
“Strength requires knowledge.”
Midway through, Reagan was asked
directly if he feels he is too old to handle
a nuclear crisis.
“Not at all,” he said. In the type of
humorous follow-up he often uses to
defuse the age' issue, the 73-year-old
Reagan also said he would not make age
a campaign issue. “I am not going to ex
ploit. . .my opponent's youth and inex
perience,” he said.
Mondale agreed that age should not be
an issue in the campaign. But he turned
the question, like almost every other ask
ed of him, to an attack on Reagan’s
leadership, his ability to “command.”
“A president has to lead his govern
ment or it won’t be done,” he said after
assailing Reagan’s policies in Lebanon
and on arms control. “Good intentions 1
grant, but it takes more than that,” Mon
dale said. “You must be tough and
smart.”
The president had a little trouble with
his summation. He began with a ques
tion that misstated his own argument,
“Do you want to see America return to
the policies of weakness of the past four
years...” That was apparently intended
to be a reference to the preceding four
years, when Mondale was vice president
under Jimmy Carter.
In response to the opening question of
the second debate. Mondale referred to
recerd disclosures of a CIA manual as
“this recent embarrassment in
Nicaragua, where we are giving instruc
tions to hired assassins.” Reagan re
nounced the document, produced by the
Central Intelligence Agency, and said if
an investigation turns up the culprit,
“We will deal with that situation, and
they will be removed.”
Mondale said such tactics as those
discussed in the CIA manual served to
“strengthen our opponents” in Central
America.