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The Daily Northwestern

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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College GOP, Dems watch debate at Keg

A crowd of 50 Northwestern students watched the second presidential debate Friday night at The Keg of Evanston.

Northwestern’s College Republicans and College Democrats hosted the event in the back room of The Keg, 810 Grove St., and students exchanged comments on the issues during the debate.

“The best way to get students involved is to make politics involved,” said Henry Bowles, president of College Republicans and a Medill junior.

The second debate between President Bush and Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, moderated by ABC’s Charles Gibson, focused on a range of issues brought up by voters in a town hall setting at Washington University in St. Louis.

The first half of the 90-minute debate focused on international issues, including foreign policy in Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terrorism.

“For a while he was a strong supporter of getting rid of Saddam Hussein,” said Bush in response to the first question about Kerry’s “wishy-washy” position. “He saw the wisdom — until the Democrat primary came along and Howard Dean, the anti-war candidate, began to gain on him, and he changed positions.”

Kerry responded with his own attack on Bush’s foreign policy in Iraq.

“(Bush) wants you to believe that I can’t be president,” Kerry said.

Kerry said he always believed Hussein was a threat but does not agree with the way Bush handled with the situation.

“But I would have used that force wisely,” Kerry said. “I would have used that authority wisely, not rushed to war without a plan to win the peace.”

Some of the comments exchanged between the president and the Massachusetts senator built on issues from the first debate, which focused on foreign policy. Bush referred to the “global test” Kerry mentioned in the first debate and said sanctions did not work in removing Hussein from power.

Kerry, citing chief U.S. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer’s recently released report, said the sanctions worked in preventing Hussein from attaining weapons of mass destruction.

“He didn’t have weapons of mass destruction,” Kerry said. “And if we’d used smart diplomacy, we could have saved $200 billion and an invasion of Iraq. And right now, Osama bin Laden might be in jail or dead.”

The second half of the debate concentrated on domestic issues, including stem cell research.

“I think we can save lives,” Kerry said. “Now, I think we can do ethically guided embryonic stem-cell research.”

Bush responded by saying he supports stem-cell research, but scientists must be “very careful in balancing the ethics and the science.”

“Science is important,” Bush said. “But so is ethics, so is balancing life. To destroy life to save life is one of the real ethical dilemmas that we face.”

Throughout the debate students discussed the candidates’ performances as well as their political opinions. Many students said Bush did better in this debate, but Kerry performed well, too.

“Bush comes off really well in (informal) situations like this,” said Communication sophomore Robert Boesel .

Grant Green, a Weinberg freshman, said he decided to watch the debate at The Keg so he could hear other student’s opinions.

“(I’m here) to primarily get a test of both sides and strengthen my convictions,” Green said.

The debate would not have been as much fun to watch in a dorm, Green added.

College Republicans and College Democrats discussed the issues brought up in detail.

“Involving yourself in healthy, organized debate is valuable in the sense of extended learning — learning outside the classroom,” said Weinberg sophomore Alex Lofton.

College Democrats President Andrew Proksel said the event was held at The Keg because both student groups wanted to break up the monotony of hosting events in classrooms.

“Everyone can relax,” said Proksel, a Weinberg junior, “see people they agree with and disagree with and have some fun.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reach Ashima Singal at [email protected].

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College GOP, Dems watch debate at Keg