[At Michigan State University (MSU)]: Students debate candidate views in a last effort to inform voters

The State News
Wednesday, October 27, 2004

By RONEISHA MULLEN

The State News

Students representing the views of Sen. John Kerry, President Bush and Ralph Nader battled in favor of their respective candidate for the final time Tuesday night.

Fewer than 40 people showed up for a debate held by Spartan Vote, a student organization that works to provide students with neutral information about candidates for office.

Despite the disappointing turnout, Spartan Vote Vice President Adam Zemke said politics are still important and the debate was the last opportunity for representatives to get their opinions heard.

New to the debate was the representative from MSU for Nader. Communication senior Ryan Dinkgrave, president of MSU for Nader, said they were not invited to the last debate.

[...]

Audience members wondered if Nader being on the ballot will take away from Kerry's votes, because he agreed with many of the same issues as Kerry.

MSU for Nader member Shane Singh assured them that it will not.

"Democrats haven't absorbed issues Nader and the Green Party support, so he should be on the ballot," the political science doctoral student said. "He's not putting Democrats at a disadvantage, he's supporting issues Democrats have not brought to the light."

Dinkgrave also said he wasn't there to help voters decide who to vote for.

"I'm not trying to convince people to vote for Nader," Dinkgrave said. "I just want people to be educated when they vote."

Read the article in full, here.

Preserving Campus Political Speech

Preserving Campus Political Speech

By Columbia Students for Nader

Thanks largely to the support of readers like yourself, Columbia Students for Nader is pleased to report that the Columbia Political Union (CPU) today reversed its decision to exclude a representative of Students for Nader at its upcoming campus debate among the presidential campaigns. The organization announced its decision after fulminating about how Students for Nader publicized the CPU’s original decision and encouraged protest e-mails.

There is a lesson for us to learn from this incident—namely, not to remain complacent in the face of monopolization of thought by the machines that control the country and the terms of its mainstream political debate. Challenges do not always end in victory, but to capitulate without trying is unacceptable.

To read about the original decision click here.