Dems host debate on primaries

Julianne Hertz Assistant News Editor

Vassar college students and Poughkeepsie locals alike crowded into the Martel Theater last Monday night, eager to observe the Democratic Presidential Primary Forum.

The Vassar College Democrats and the Town of Poughkeepsie Democratic Committee co-sponsored the forum, in an effort to inform voters before New York’s primary elections on February 5.

Accordingly, democratic front-runners Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards were each represented by a local advocate during the debate.

Yet even before the representatives were introduced campaigning began, as an array of buttons, stickers, and other materials promoting each of the candidates was made available outside of the auditorium. A few audience members even sported promotional signs.

The event itself opened with a pledge of allegiance led by Bob Gephard, the Chairman of the Town of Poughkeepsie Democratic Committee. Gephard made introductory remarks and expressed his hope for change in America’s future.

“Four years ago Washington was all Republican,” Gephard said. “We now have the House and the Senate…we have a Democratic governor. Change is in the air; you can feel it. We are tonight at the end of four long years.”

The forum proceeded with opening statements given by the each representative on behalf of his or her candidate. The representatives then engaged in a debate in which each person had 90 seconds to respond to a question from the audience. The questions ranged from specific inquiries into plans for health care, the War in Iraq and education, to more general ones about each candidate’s potential to restore America’s global image and keep campaign promises.

At the end of the debate the audience participated in a straw poll vote that overwhelmingly favored Obama.