Campaigns divide campus
Students, faculty question use of attacks as race for Democratic nomination drags on
By: Kim Hill
Issue date: 3/14/08 Section: News
With Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton still locked in a tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination, their campaigns have begun to dabble more with a controversial tactic: political attacks.
Some members of the campus community believe the attacks - mainly centering on race, religion and campaign strategy - are doing less to progress either candidate and more to dissuade voters.
"I see Hillary as being more desperate in her attacks, and they're a little more personal," said Jordan Castro, an undeclared freshman. "Eventually, the bickering is going to have to stop because the Republicans already have a nominee (Arizona senator John McCain) and we can't go to the conventions with a split party. It gets in the way of the real issues."
Clinton's supporters have provided the majority of the vitriol, questioning Obama's viability as an African-American candidate and even addressing the Illinois senator's teenage drug use.
Clinton herself has focused on his relative lack of experience and her doubts about his capability to lead the country.
Obama - who holds a 1,602-1,497 delegate lead in the race for the 2,025 needed to clinch the nomination, according to The Associated Press - has mocked Clinton's credentials as a "self-possessed agent of change."
His supporters have questioned whether the New York senator is creating enough appeal to drum up voters from traditionally conservative states, where Obama has thus far found success.
Liszet Chavez-Avila, a junior majoring in family sciences and human development, believes that if the Democratic Party stays divided, the Republicans will triumph.
"If (Clinton and Obama) were to fight for what they believe without kicking and screaming like children then people could take their concerns seriously," she said.
James Jefferies, a political science senior and president of the UA Young Democrats, sees the buildup into the next primary in Pennsylvania on April 22 as a potentially key factor with regard to the national picture.
Some members of the campus community believe the attacks - mainly centering on race, religion and campaign strategy - are doing less to progress either candidate and more to dissuade voters.
"I see Hillary as being more desperate in her attacks, and they're a little more personal," said Jordan Castro, an undeclared freshman. "Eventually, the bickering is going to have to stop because the Republicans already have a nominee (Arizona senator John McCain) and we can't go to the conventions with a split party. It gets in the way of the real issues."
Clinton's supporters have provided the majority of the vitriol, questioning Obama's viability as an African-American candidate and even addressing the Illinois senator's teenage drug use.
Clinton herself has focused on his relative lack of experience and her doubts about his capability to lead the country.
Obama - who holds a 1,602-1,497 delegate lead in the race for the 2,025 needed to clinch the nomination, according to The Associated Press - has mocked Clinton's credentials as a "self-possessed agent of change."
His supporters have questioned whether the New York senator is creating enough appeal to drum up voters from traditionally conservative states, where Obama has thus far found success.
Liszet Chavez-Avila, a junior majoring in family sciences and human development, believes that if the Democratic Party stays divided, the Republicans will triumph.
"If (Clinton and Obama) were to fight for what they believe without kicking and screaming like children then people could take their concerns seriously," she said.
James Jefferies, a political science senior and president of the UA Young Democrats, sees the buildup into the next primary in Pennsylvania on April 22 as a potentially key factor with regard to the national picture.
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Master Cleanse
posted 3/18/08 @ 1:35 AM MST
People are not perfect. They are human. They are a combination of good and bad. Obama's minister said that Hillary has never been called a nigger. (So if you meet her, make sure to call her a nigger to make that statement wrong). (Continued…)
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