Volume 106

The

The Democratic Presidential Debate at Cleveland StateStory by Andrea Mitchell

T H E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F C L E V E L A N D S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y S I N C E 1 9 2 9

WednesdAY FebruArY 27, 2008| CSuCAulDron.CoM

I t was a big night for Cleveland and particularly Cleveland State University. The twentieth and final democratic debate that took place at Cleveland

State’s Wolstein Center left the nation with an irking question still hanging over their heads; who will be the Democratic Party nominee?

Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama squared off for the final time at 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday night. This final debate marks for the nation what both candidates are advocating: a move for change. It is the first time that an African American or a woman has gotten this far into the presidential elec-tion and after next Tuesday’s primaries the candidate who will run for president of the United States will be chosen.The Debate

NBC’s Brian Williams and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Alumnus Tim Russert hosted the debate. It took place on Tuesday Feb. 26, 2008 and focused on several pressing issues the candidates are facing. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), health care, comments by both candidates on each other and where their campaign funding is coming from, were some of the major topics that the candidates debated.

At the end of the debate some spectators were buzzing that Sen. Obama had won, while others were saying it was a tie. The main point of the debate, however, is that while neither candidate seemed to decidedly win or lose, this was Sen. Clinton’s last nation-al stand before the upcoming primaries.

The debate kicked off with 16 minutes of intense discussion of health-care. While both candidates presented their plans and tried to convince the American people that theirs was the best, they both were explaining a rather similar plan that included people pay-

ing for health insurance at “affordable” costs.

On her plan for health-care Sen. Clinton said, “My plan will cover every-one and it will be afford-able…Sen. Obama’s plan does not cover everyone.” In response Sen. Obama said, “I believe in universal health-care. Sen. Clinton claims that I do not…We [will] do more to reduce costs than any other plan that has been out there. The insurance compa-nies are actually happy to have a mandate.”

Although health-care, especially the idea of universal health-care, was repeatedly touched upon throughout the debate, both candidates also discussed each other’s campaigning tech-niques and the public response.

Sen. Clinton recently has taken many digs from the “Obamamania” that has been sweeping the nation. She has also disagreed with what some of Sen. Obama’s mailings and advertisements have been saying about her. At the beginning of the debate Sen. Clinton said, “I think it’s important you stand up for yourself and point out these differ-ences.”

However, Sen. Clinton did not keep a consistent easy-going tone throughout the entire debate. Just before the first commercial break Sen. Clinton made perhaps her most controversial statement of the evening when she said, “Well, could I just point out that, in the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time? And I don’t mind. You know, I’ll be happy to field them, but I do find it curious. And if anybody saw ‘Saturday Night Live,’ you know, maybe we should ask Barack if he’s comfortable and needs another pillow.”

Audiences all around the

nation gasped at her remark on the much talked about SNL skit that portrayed the presidential debates as catering to Sen. Obama’s needs and ignoring Sen. Clinton’s points.

In response to Sen. Clinton’s “attacks” on his campaign Sen. Obama said, “Sen. Clinton has constantly sent out negative attacks on us and we haven’t whined on it because we understand that is the nature of these campaigns.”

While NBC, who was running the debate, will refute the idea that they are showing pref-erence to Sen. Obama, it was clear that many questions were first directed at Sen. Clinton, begging the question of if this was a “ladies first” deal or if in fact they were putting her in the hot-seat for the country to watch.

Even still Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama moved past his “special treatment” and tried to tackle big issues and in some cases each other as well.

Another one of the strong issues of the night was NAFTA and its affect on U.S. citi-zens. On the topic of NAFTA Sen. Clinton said, “I have been a critic on NAFTA…I

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The

CauldronThe Free

Editorial Staff:Andrea Mitchell, Editor-In-ChiefLaura Dynda, Managing EditorJayson Gerbec, Advertising ManagerKatie Shoemaker, Advertising Rep.Ebony Cash, News Editor Ilona Westfall, Culture EditorNick Camino, Sports EditorSteve Thomas, Layout EditorMichael Quintero, CartoonistBrian Thomas, Distribution ManagerAnne Werner, Business Manager

For the Students...By the Students

The Staff WritErS:Reid May, Mark Jablonski, Faith Larraine, Jamie DuBois,Mark Katzbach, Chris Enoch, Scott Arko, Robert Ivory, Sabrina Peacock, Roman Verzub, Emily Ouzts, Whitney Maddox-Foster,Dan HallowellContributing WritErS:Shanette D. Buford, Francis X. Bova III,Sairah Zaidi, M.P. Beller

thE MElting Pot

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to SubMit EditorialS, artiClES, EtC.: cauldroneditors@hotmail.com

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Contact us:Cleveland State University4th Floor Cole CenterCleveland, Ohio 44115(216) 687-2270 / (216) 687-5155www.csucauldron.com

2Breaking NewsF e b r u a r y 2 7 , 2 0 0 8

M ore than 250 students slogged through the snow last night to watch Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama battle it out

in the last debate before Ohio’s primary election on March 4th. The game room at Fenn Tower, where the campus-wide Debate Watch Party was held, was packed to its maximum capacity. “I didn’t think turnout was going to be this large,” said one of the watch party organizers from the Department of Student Life.

And though the rumor about the candidate’s spouses showing up turned out to be just that, the energy in the room was unmistakable. Shouts of “O-bam-a” could be heard throughout the eve-ning, and there was a general aura of excitement filling the air.

Some students clamored to get in front of the television camera for their fifteen seconds of fame on the nightly news, while others spoke with Associated Press reporters and ate hot dogs.

As the debate got underway on the big screen, the din of the crowd continued and Tim Russert’s opening statement was barely audible. “This is as loud as it gets folks, so you’re going to have to quiet down to hear it,” somebody yelled. But in fact it wasn’t as loud as it could get, and the volume was increased moments later.

When MSNBC showed a clip of Sen. Clinton saying that she was “honored” to share the stage with Obama at last week’s debate in Texas, and then cut quickly to Clinton shouting “shame on you Barack Obama” in Ohio the very next day, the audience erupted in laughter. And although there were a couple of “Hillary for President” signs to be seen, the sentiment in the room was decidedly pro-Obama.

Are you here for the change?,” Obama sup-porters asked incoming students before the doors opened, referring to the senator’s campaign theme

of “change.” Dozens of “students were clad in Obama t-shirts, and others held “CSU for Obama” signs. Obama also received the most applause from the audience during the debate.

Education major Darryl Buxton said he was supporting Obama because he thinks that “It’s time for a black man to be in the White House.” Chad Justice, a history major, said he intends to vote for Sen. John McCain in the general election, but that Obama would be his “second choice as a candi-date,” because he’s “not a big fan of Hillary.”

But if Clinton supporters were hard to spot last night, they were even harder to engage. Two stu-dents holding Clinton campaign signs declined to speak with The Cauldron, one saying she was “shy,” and the other saying she did not want to discuss politics.

Others, like English major Amanda Evans,

were neutral. Evans, an independent voter, said that she wasn’t yet leaning towards either Obama or Clinton, and wasn’t even sure if she’d be voting in the Democratic primary on Tuesday. Still, she found the debate to be “interesting.”

As Obama continues to make almost daily gains on Clinton in Ohio polls, it’s still unclear if Clinton’s performance in this debate will succeed in slowing the Illinois senator’s momentum, as her campaign hopes it will, or if Obama will continue to gain ground in what is shaping up to be a make or break election for Sen. Clinton on Tuesday.

For the first time in a long while, it appears that Ohio voters will get to have their say in who this year’s Democratic nominee for president will be, and judging by the enthusiasm of last night’s crowd, Cleveland State students are ready to par-ticipate.

Cleveland State Debate Watch Party Brings out a CrowdStory by Mark Jablonski

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�Breaking News2

Just to set the record straight before you begin reading this column, yes I can write on other topics besides athletic competition and sports jocks. But I will veer away from the basketball court, the baseball diamond, the swimming pool, or the wrestling mat when I feel it necessary for people to finally hear the truth.

There have been other occasions when I found

it necessary to provide a reality check: when I took to task a Cleveland Marshall Law School student for claiming students should not have to take the Ohio Bar Exam to become an attorney, and yet another was when I remembered the life of Cleveland State Professor Chas Smith (one of the greatest professors to ever teach on this institution’s campus).

Now again, after Tuesday night’s debate between

Democratic Presidential Candidates Barack Obama and Hilary Rodham-Clinton, I felt it was my duty to once again fill in Cleveland State students and facul-ty with something that is blindly being overlooked.

Senators Obama and Clinton have virtually the same views on every topic that was debated Tuesday night and sorry to say, neither of them are ready to take over the White House. Both are ill-prepared to lead the United States of America. Or, “Ameeeeeeeericcca,” as Obama would continue to pronounce it.

Note to Senator Obama, you are not Martin

CSU Debate Helps Students Understand Problems with Clinton, Obama

reassuring My republican VoteStory by nick Camino

Cleveland State Steals Part of the Spotlight At The Debate

Story by Charlotte Morgan

C leveland State University hosted the last Democratic Presidential Debate

before the Mar. 4 Ohio primary. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) faced one another in their most important debate. Clinton has fallen behind in the race and this is her last chance to convince voters not only in Texas, but also in the state of Ohio that she is the best candidate to represent the party. Obama needed to maintain his momentum in order to win the state. Overshadowing the event was the spotlight that was on the city of Cleveland.

The Wolstein Center proved to be a suitable location for the event as reporters from all over the world gathered in the third floor media center to file their stories. Outside the facility were campaign support-ers and protesters. The chaos out-side didn’t affect the smooth opera-tion of the debate and the care and feeding of media members all of whom had stories to file.

Ulysses Glenn publisher of the East Side News, a community paper which covers Shaker, Woodland, and other southeast neighborhoods, scurried through the Media Filing Room photographing and network-ing with everyone from former Ward 8 Councilman Bill Patmon (D) to former Cuyahoga County Commissioner, Tim Hagan. “I think

it was a good debate. WOIO’s Lynna Lai found her-

self spot to view the debate and afterwards said, “I think Cleveland State University had two weeks to put this event together. The venue was great and the volunteers--the students have done a great job. They have put Cleveland in the national spotlight and I’m proud.”

John Arthur Hutchinson of the News Herald was there early. He also attended the rally with Michelle Obama and went on to say, “I went to the 2004 Vice Presidential Debate with Dick Cheney at Case Western Reserve. I was impressed with how easy it was to get into this facility. There was parking across the street from the facility. We’re in a smaller Media Filing Room, but this event was more organized. I think Cleveland State has done a great job. And you’ve been in the spotlight—hosting Michelle Obama and Chelsea Clinton.”

But even some of the attendees had praise for the operation of the event.

Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) said, “ From what I can tell everyone is pleased with the job that Cleveland State has done. The venue was appropriate—surely a few more thousand people in the place would have nice. I’m so proud I represent the 11th District and that it includes Cleveland State University.”

Host Chris Matthews Brings Show to Cleveland State

“let’s Play Hardball”Story by Laura dynda

H ost Chris Matthews and his show “Hardball” graced Cleveland State University with it’s presence on Feb. 26. The host and his show was just one of the many media personalities to come to Cleveland State for the

Democratic Debate.“Hardball” is a show on MSNBC that analyzes politics and has

many guests that are either politicians or having something to do with politics. Being that it is one of MSNBC’s most popular shows, a lottery was held through Cleveland State’s website to determine who would go to the taping on Feb. 26.

Only one hundred people were picked, for the tapings of the show. There were to be two tapings, one at 5 p.m.- 6 p.m. and the other from 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Once 5 p.m. came along, the show began. Chris Matthews made his much anticipated appearance and got to work. During the hour he spoke to Senator Chris Dodd via satellite, who had given his sup-port to Sen. Barack Obama. He spoke to political analysts and Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who was in attendance at the debate supporting Senator Hillary Clinton.

As the heated discussion got under way, only one thing was miss-ing…applause. Where was the cheering and clapping of the huge audi-ence? Usually in all of the “Hardball” shows, there is a large boisterous audience. At this taping it was missing because “Hardball” was being taped in the Media Spin Room. So as not to disturb the media, the audi-ence was told just before the taping that there would be no cheering or clapping allowed. But smiles and the holding of signs were encouraged.

In the commercial breaks, Matthews would speak to the audience asking various questions. At one point Matthews asked, “Is anyone here voting for Kucinich?” To this question there were many different answers.

Matthews was very charismatic and seemed interested in the audi-ence’s responses to his questions. Once the cameras started rolling again, he turned to face the camera and started to read the teleprompter.

After the show was over, audience members of the 5 p.m. taping were invited to the 7 p.m. taping of the show. They were also asked if they wanted to stay and watch the debate.

Audience members for “Hardball” were able to have their cake and eat it too. They were able to be on “Hardball” and go to the Democratic Debate.

Continued on Page 4

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Breaking News

Luther King Jr., please stop trying to talk like him. Your barrowing of his nuances and pronunciations is much too obvious.

From the very beginning of the debate, when the two first-time Presidential candidates argued about whose health care plan was better for 16 min-utes, until the end, when both were given standing ovations from those in attendance at the Wolstein Center, absolutely nothing was accomplished.

There definitely was no winner.Both Obama and Clinton seemed more wor-

ried about who said what, when they said it, and why they said it, rather than simply and matter-of-factly expressing their plans to help this struggling country. Neither addressed their vision of how to change what ails this nation.

By the way, did anyone see the humor when a week before her venom filled speech about the flyers Obama’s campaign sent out, mis-stating Clinton’s position on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), that she still hugged the Illinois Senator at the previous debate in Texas? What is this, a love-fest, or a campaign?

You had to laugh when Cleveland State Alum Tim Russert presented a photograph that alleg-edly Clinton’s campaign dug up, showing Obama in what looked to be an Arab garb and a turban. Sadly, both of them are a joke. This country is being laughed at worldwide because of the

Democratic Party. Perhaps the most frustrating part of the debate

for this sports reporter was the audacity displayed by Clinton and Obama on who called out President George W. Bush for his choices in spending money.

Now, there is no doubt Bush has made mistakes, but when is the last time you met a Senator that deals with money? That’s because they don’t have to deal with budgets. Only a Governor has to work within a budget.

Bush, the former Governor in the state of Texas at least has dealt with money and budgets prior to taking office in 2000. Neither Senators Obama or Clinton has dealt directly with the economy or fis-cally sound spending of American tax dollars.

Is Arizona Senator John McCain perfect? Certainly not.

However, unlike Clinton and Obama, he has had extensive dealings with foreign relations, while neither of the two Dems have. If the Iraq Government told the United States military to leave their country, Clinton and Obama both agreed they would. Whatever happened to the pursuit for an end to terrorism and the safety of innocent people?

Up until the night of the debate, 3,249 American soldiers had lost their lives in the pursuit of an end to terrorism. My friend, PC Colin Busse, who I wrote an article on last year, is still there and returns

home in April. Of course I fear that he is in danger everyday, he remains there, but he has told me him-self, “We need to be here!”

Who am I to believe? Do I trust the liberal media members of the United States and two not-so ready politicians, or a friend I have known my entire life? McCain will keep the troops there, pro-tecting this country, making sure another Sept. 11, 2001 never happens again.

Over the past several years Obama and Clinton have voted the same on virtually every issue in the Senate. They are one and the same. In the eyes of the campaign catchword “change”, if you support Obama, then you support Ms. Clinton as well. It is that simple.

Well, I got it off my chest. I am thrilled the debate was held in Cleveland, but it is finally over with. The only reason Obama and Hilary are get-ting any support is due to the sour taste President Bush has left in voters’ mouths. People are “out-raged by Republicans”.

The truth of the matter is, voting for a President is not about what party the candidate represents, the color of their skin, or the sex they may be. It is about their vision and their plans to positively impact this great nation.

Unfortunately, neither candidate that debated at Cleveland State University on Tuesday night possessed either.

Debate At Cleveland StateContinued from Page 1

said it was flawed, we need to have a plan to fix NAFTA.” While Sen. Clinton didn’t offer exact guidelines for such a plan, she was ada-mant in her stance against NAFTA, even after Sen. Obama claimed she had once supported the organization.

When the issue of NAFTA and its effec-tiveness was brought up Sen. Obama he said, “I don’t think NAFTA has been good for Americans, and I never have.” He continued to talk about Sen. Clinton’s stances, as he said, “She was saying great things about NAFTA until she started running for president.”

The ever-pressing topics of the Iraq war and international relations were brought up through the course of the debate as well. On the war Sen. Obama said, “The fact was this was a big strategic blunder…Once we had driven the bus in the ditch there were only so many ways to get out.”

Sen. Clinton agreed with Sen. Obama on withdrawal from the Iraq war and said, “I believe it is in America’s interests for us to

have an orderly withdrawal.”Despite the many issues that the 2008

Presidential Candidates are facing the debate only ran 90-minutes, which didn’t allot enough time for either candidate to present a comprehensive agenda. In the end, the nation and the candidates are left to wait until Tuesday when the fate of Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama will be decided.What Does It Mean?

All in all the debate marks a historic candi-dacy to come. Whether Sen. Obama techni-cally won or not seems irrelevant compared to who will win the upcoming primaries. Typically the nation swings toward the way Ohio votes, but in this election, with Sen. Obama leading throughout nation, but Sen. Clinton leading in Ohio, the election is still too close to call.

The Democratic Primary is still coming forth, but the fact that the debate was held at Cleveland State University is significant for students. As President Michael Schwartz

said, “I think the major winner here were my students first.”

Ohio is really going to be the swing state in this election, either handing the nomination to Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama. Cleveland State students represent a target age group of voters (the youth group) and a target regional group. The fact is what leads the candidates to having debates at college campuses and more importantly at speaking directly to Cleveland State students is they represent an extremely important target voter group in this election.

While college tuition prices were men-tioned, but not really discussed in the debate, the candidate that will most likely get students votes is the one that is proposing the better deal on tuition costs. Which candidate is that? Well it all depends on how you personally look at it, and in the end the presidential elec-tion is still far off in November, leaving plenty of opportunities for students to watch even more unfold.

reassuring My republican VoteContinued from Page 3