America’s political circus came to town Tuesday and the midway was the Belmont University campus, where the sideshows included political impersonators and musical entertainment.
The university was flooded by a spirited mass of political enthusiasts decked out in variations of red, white and blue.
Often ignored by the public, third-party candidates were finally given a chance to talk about their parties and issues on Monday in a debate hosted by the Coalition for October Debate Alternatives.
Six third-party candidates convened in Stevenson Center and expressed their views on topics ranging from the Wall Street bailout to the environment. Bruce Barry, professor of sociology and management at Owen Graduate School of Management, moderated the debate, which was followed by a reception.
The debate featured Charles Jay of the Boston Tea Party, Brad Lyttle of the U.S. Pacifist Party, Frank McEnulty of the New American Independent Party, Brian Moore of the Socialist Party, Darryl Castle of the Constitutional Party and Gloria La Riva of the Party of Socialism and Liberation. While the parties differ significantly from each other and from the major parties, they are alike because they want to “change the very nature of government,” according to Barry.
All candidates expressed the belief that the major parties do not represent the American people.
“The two major political parties ignore the majority of Americans,” said McEnulty, who is also the vice-presidential candidate for the Reform Party, another third party.
The candidates also thanked CODA for giving them the opportunity to participate in a political forum.
“America is winning because we are here tonight,” said Jay, who is making his second bid for the presidency.
Aimee Sobhani reporting for The Vanderbilt Hustler.
“When I woke up this morning, I felt like I had to pinch myself,†said political science professor John Geer. “Vanderbilt is ranked 13 after beating Auburn, a presidential debate is being hosted in my hometown, and now I’m joined by this wonderful panel of experts. It can only go downhill from here.â€
On Tuesday morning, Geer attended the presidential election panel hosted by former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. and First Amendment Center founder John Seigenthaler. The panel included many of the leading experts in journalism and political science, including Mike Allen of Politico, Howard Fineman of Newsweek and NBC News, Anne Kornblut of The Washington Post, Joe Klein of Time, Mark Halperin of ABC News, John Harwood of NBC, and Chris Matthews of MSNBC.
Political scholars, journalists and pundits will offer their informed perspective on where the 2008 presidential election is headed during an Oct. 7 forum for students that is sponsored by Vanderbilt University and the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt.
“The 2008 Presidential Election: Where We Stand and Where We Are Headed†will be led by John Seigenthaler, founder of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt, and Harold Ford Jr., a visiting professor of political science at Vanderbilt and former congressman. The discussion will be from 10 a.m. to noon. Read more »
With no clear winner in the first debate and major financial issues in the oven, both Barack Obama and John McCain want to distinguish themselves in the Belmont debate. August’s Saddleback Forum with Rick Warren may serve as a decent model for the debate. Obama will probably lean more toward intellectual, pragmatic responses that could be short on decisiveness, McCain more towards anecdotal, witty responses with forceful answers that can be a little too strong for some. For each big issue, we’ve provided the Rasmussen tracking for how each candidate is polling with voters as of Sept. 24, 2008.
With the 2008 presidential election candidates coming to town for the second presidential debate on Tuesday, national attention is turned to Nashville. And even though the town-hall-style debate will be held at Belmont University, there are still several ways for Vanderbilt students to get involved.
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America's political circus came to town Tuesday and the midway was the Belmont University campus, where the sideshows included political ...
Often ignored by the public, third-party candidates were finally given a chance to talk about their parties and issues on ...
“When I woke up this morning, I felt like I had to pinch myself,†said political science professor John Geer. ...
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