This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
Questions have been released for the debate that will take place among supporters of the Republican, Democrat, and independent (Ralph Nader) presidential campaigns 7 p.m. today in Kirby Hall of Civil Rights room 104.
A reception will follow the debate, one of many election-related events organized this fall, including yesterday’s day-long mock election and Election Extravaganza, both held in the Farinon Center, and today’s Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection brown bag on third-party candidates Ralph Nader and David Cobb. Many of these events have been organized in conjunction with Holla Back, Your Voice Your Vote, a coalition of students and organizations committed to creating an informed voting community.
Lafayette President Arthur J. Rothkopf ’55 will serve as moderator, posing questions of the Democrat and Republican sides, each represented by a resident adviser, a professor, a member of the community, and a representative of the political party. A student and Lafayette staff member will represent the campaign of Ralph Nader and Peter Camejo.
To start the debate, Rothkopf will call on one member of each delegation for a two-minute response to a general question. Each response will be immediately followed by a one-minute rebuttal by one person from each of the other two delegations. The pattern will repeat for a second general question.
The general questions:
1. What plans does your candidate have in the short and long term for our involvement in Iraq?
2. What plans does your candidate have to improve the economy and create more jobs?
The same format will be used for two specific questions of each delegation:
Bush
1. Stem cell research can potentially cure Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and other illnesses. Why doesn’t President Bush support broadening the funding for research and increasing stem cell lines as urged by Nancy Reagan and Christopher Reeve’s widow?
2. Wouldn’t President Bush’s proposal to create investment accounts in Social Security result ultimately in the privatization and destruction of Social Security?
Kerry
1. The charge has been made that Senator Kerry has accomplished little in his 20 years in the Senate. What are his accomplishments in the Senate?
2. In light of his background as a medical malpractice trial lawyer, wouldn’t the election of John Edwards be a setback for efforts to retain doctors in Pennsylvania and other states with a malpractice insurance crisis?
Nader
1. What is the most important policy change that Ralph Nader would make as President?
2. If I were to vote for Nader, why would I not be throwing my vote away?
At the conclusion of this period, if time permits, the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions.
Lafayette participants in the debate will include: Democrats — Brendon Rivage-Seul ’05, a double major in international affairs and Spanish from Berea, Ky., and William Carpenter, assistant professor of English; Republicans — John Landon ’05, a government and law major from Shrewsbury, N.J., and Donald Chambers, Walter E. Hanson/KPMG Peat Marwick Professor of Business and Finance; and Nader campaign – Eric Imhof ’05, a Spanish major from Palmyra, Pa., and Dave Block ’93, news editor and Alumni News editor in the Public Information Office.
The party representatives will be State Rep. Robert Freeman (D-Northampton) and David Bonner, a member of the Easton Republican Committee. Community participants will be local attorney Keith Welks, former chief council for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and Nancy Dienel, a member of the Pennsylvania State Republican Committee.
The debate is sponsored by Lafayette’s Meyner Center for the Study of State and Local Government; the resident advisers of the Keefe, Ramer, and Farber residence halls; and student groups Kirby Government and Law Society, College Democrats, College Republicans, and Holla Back.