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Since 1900 | Volume 106, Issue 35 | Thursday, October 14, 2004
★ AMERICA VOTES 2004 ★
Vice
presidential
candidate John
Edwards spoke
to an
enthusiastic
crowd on the
East Lawn of
the EMU on
Wednesday.
Tight security
was present tc
supervise the
large number of
people in
attendance.
Danielle Hickey
Photo editor
Edwards: ‘Hope is on the way’
An estimated 5,700 gathered Wednesday to hear official
Democratic views on education, the economy and health care
BY PARKER HOWELL
MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
NEWS REPORTERS
Vice presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards
depicted President Bush as out-of-touch with the
average citizen before a crowd of thousands on
Wednesday afternoon, offering assurance that the
Kerry ticket will help an ailing America.
“Hope is on the way,” he told the crowd
repeatedly.
A smiling, casually dressed Edwards gave the
boisterous crowd a confident thumbs-up as he
took the stage and dove into a 20-minute speech
on how Kerry’s ideas on education, the economy
and health care will get the nation back on the
right track after four years of mismanagement by
the Bush administration.
An estimated 5,700 people packed into the
EMU’s East Lawn for the rally amid tight security
that included police dogs and barricades. Before
the event, many people waited for hours in a line
that stretched around the south and west sides of
the EMU and spilled down 13th Avenue.
Edwards rolled up his sleeves, strategically dis
playing a modest watch and a yellow “Live
Strong” bracelet on his left hand as he praised
voter registration efforts at the University.
He criticized Bush for failing to acknowledge
any mistakes he has made while in office when
he was asked to do so at a press conference and
later during Friday's presidential debate.
“You can’t fix a problem ‘til you see a problem
and George Bush can’t see what’s happening,”
he said. “After Nov. 2, we’re going to give him all
the time in the world to think about the mistakes
he’s made.”
Edwards stressed the Kerry campaign’s plan to
allow young people to exchange two years of
civic service for four years of public higher educa
tion, saying thousands of students can’t afford
higher education.
He also criticized Bush for cutting the number
of Federal Pell Grant recipients and for being the
first president in 70 years to not create jobs. The
economy has also suffered because the Bush ad
ministration has been soft on job outsourcing,
he said.
“What would be good for our economy would
be to outsource George Bush,” Edwards said.
Edwards said he and Kerry will help the econo
my by giving tax cuts to businesses that keep jobs
at home and by enforcing trade agreements, call
ing outsourcing to child labor a “moral issue. ”
He also emphasized the need to reduce U.S.
dependence on oil and increase investment in re
newable sources of energy.
Edwards said his ticket will also make the
health care plan offered to senators available to
all Americans and will use the bargaining power
of the government to pressure drug companies
into reducing prescription drug prices. He said he
and Kerry will target exorbitant spending on pre
scription drug ads as well, criticizing Bush for sid
ing with drug companies and other corporations.
“Over and over and over, this president has
made it clear who he stands with,” Edwards said.
Edwards said he and Kerry will “immediately”
put into place recommendations from the 9/11
committee and will win the war on terror with
out using scare tactics.
"We’re going to end the politics of fear we’ve
seen under this administration,” he said.
He also chaiged the crowd to watch the last de
bate and carry the country for Kerry.
“There is so much at stake in this election and
the choices are absolutely clear,” he said.
People at the rally drew different conclusions
from Edwards’ speech.
Many students noted Edwards’ energetic style,
including senior Gregory Heaton, who said the
vice presidential candidate seemed practical and
less reactionary than most politicians.
“He wasn’t filled with anger like so many of
the Republicans I’ve seen,” Heaton said.
Although most of what Edwards discussed
is “the same stuff they’ve been saying the whole
time,” Heaton said Edwards “said it more
cohesively.”
Eugene resident Jeff DeFranco, a recent Uni
versity graduate, said his favorite part of Edwards’
speech was the talk of Bush’s refusal at last Fri
day’s debate to admit any mistakes.
EDWARDS, page 16
Candidates lock horns on economy, health care
Kerry places nation's ills on president's head; Bush accuses senator
of sitting on the 'far left hank' of mainstream
BY MARY DALRYMPLE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEMPE, Ariz. — Sen. John Kerry said
Wednesday night that President Bush bears re
sponsibility for a misguided war in Iraq, lost
jobs at home and mounting millions without
health care. The Republican incumbent tagged
his rival as a lifelong liberal bent on raising tax
es and government spending.
“There’s a mainstream in American politics
and you sit right on the far left bank,” Bush
said in the final debate of a close and con
tentious campaign for the White House. “You*
record is such that Ted Kennedy, your col
league, is the conservative senator from Massa
chusetts.”
Undeterred, the Democratic challenger said
many of the nation’s ills can be laid at Bush’s
feet.
He “regrettably rushed us into war” in
Kerry said, and the country is less safe as a re
sult. He said 11 consecutive presidents, Republi
cans and Democrats alike, have been hit with
recession and war, yet “none of them lost jobs
the way this president has.”
As for health care, the Democratic senator
said, 5 million Americans have lost coverage;
under Bush’s watch. “The president has turned
his back on the wellness of America, and there
is no system and it’s starting to fall apart,” Kerry
j. * ^ if
Kerry and the president also debated abor
tion, gay rights, immigration and more in a 90
minute debate that underscored deep
differences only 19 campaign days before Elec
tion Day.
This debate was similar in format to the first
NATIONAL, page 4
Students say presidential debates have become repetitive
mudslinging sessions that don't affect their votes
BY PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
The final presidential debate between candi
dates George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry drew
a modestly sized crowd to a viewing event at Co
lumbia 150 Wednesday night. About 70 people,
most of them students, attended to watch the
candidates spar over domestic issues.
The fourth in a series of televised contests that
began Sept. 30, the debate was the latest in a
flurry of chances for students to see candidates
on the major presidential tickets present and de
fend their platforms.
However, many students said the debates
were repetitive
Junior Steven Steinfeld, who stopped watch
ing the debate early, said he didn’t see a change
in the candidates’ talking points.
“I haven’t heard anything new,” he said.
“A lot of the things Bush was saying weren’t
true,” Steinfeld said. “He says he’s helping edu
cation, but it’s very obvious that’s not going on.”
He said that watching the debates hasn’t
^ changed his stance in support of Kerry.
“I just think Kerry is the lesser of two evils, but
he’s apt my ideal candidate,” he said.
Senior Garren LaRue agreed, saying the
debate was “more of the same.” He said he was
frustrated by the candidates’ personal
^ attacks.
^— There’s too much mudslinging,” he said.
' LaRue said job outsourcing was a key
Issue in the debate, but added that the candi
dates have neglected the environment during
the series of debates.
LOCAL, page 4