McCain, Bush Supporters Debate at HLS

Student supporters of Republican presidential hopefuls George W. Bush and John S. McCain debated their candidate's proposals for the budget surplus, Social Security, campaign finance reform and other salient issues last night in Harvard Law School's (HLS) Langdell Hall.

Massachusetts Youth for McCain coordinators Thomas R. Snider and Jonathan S Freimann and Campus Coordinators for George W. Bush Michael G. Adams and Christian J. Ward represented the campaigns of the two frontrunners in the Republican race.

The event, sponsored by the HLS Republicans, was moderated by HLS student John C. O'Quinn who asked prepared questions, allowing the opposing camps a rebuttal in each case.

First the mock candidates faced off over what they would propose to do with possible budget surpluses.

Bush advocates large tax cuts to return money to citizens.

"Federal taxes have been higher than at any other peacetime," Adams said. "The Bush plan returns money to citizens all across the spectrum."

Snider retorted that the Bush plan does not do enough to shore up Social Security and pay the national debt.

"By saving Social Security now, we won't have to raise Social Security taxes or cut benefits," Snider said.

He also criticized the inflexibility of the Bush plan.

"McCain has the foresight that if there is an economic downturn, he is willing to change his plan," Snider said.

Campaign finance reform, one of the major components of the McCain platform, was the next topic of debate.

"If we don't reign in soft money on both sides, we will continue to have problems," Snider said for the McCain camp.

Adams criticized McCain's plan for limiting free speech by placing a cap on the contributions citizens can make to groups.

The debate then turned to education reform as both sides touted the records of their respective candidates.

"Bush ran [for governor] on a platform of education reform in '94 and '98," Ward said, explaining Bush's support of school choice and vouchers. "His plan is for every child to get a first rate education."

Snider cited McCain's support for other methods to expand education opportunities.

"He supports tax credits for contributions to schools as well legislation for tax free savings accounts for education," Snider said.

The last prepared question focused on military issues, and then discussion turned to foreign policy.

"I think having a military hero as commander and chief would be great for retention," Freimann said.

"I'm not going to exploit McCain's destruction of government planes and his time in prison," Adams joked, referring to McCain's service in Vietnam.

The debate was then opened up to audience questions, with discussion ranging from abortion to race relations.

While most of the debate focused on policy issues, each side did take the opportunity to take shots at the opposition.

Adams criticized what he called McCain's attempt to skew primary results by appealing to moderates.

"Who is the real conservative here?" he questioned.

Freimann however, said McCain's appeal across the spectrum is the only way to return a Republican to the White House.

"He is not a knee-jerk party Republican," Freimann said. "We can cater to Republican establishment or we can search for the best ideas."