A staff writer’s semi-biased take on the debate

Dictionary.com defines a debate as a discussion, as of a public question in an assembly, involving opposing viewpoints.

Your humble narrator defines the Oct. 22 foreign policy debate as a discussion, on national television in which two candidates manage to completely agree with each other on foreign matters and still find ways to bash each other for an hour and a half.

This was the nature of Monday’s debate.

Polls may swing one way or another in regards to who really won last night’s debate. Style-wise both candidates kept reasonably cool, a drastic change from the last debate. But as far as content, both candidates lost.

Governor Romney just restated foreign policy positions that are already in place in the current administration. He failed to point out any significant changes he would institute abroad besides the ones we have already been told time and time again.

The fact is, both candidates know that foreign policy doesn’t win elections. Joe and Jill Everyman aren’t as concerned with the Syrian revolution as they are with domestic issues.

So that’s why Romney and Obama took every opening they could to emphasize their economic plans.

Perhaps, more-so Romney considering he agrees with almost everything the president is doing abroad, he just isn’t supposed to act like it.

In some cases he actually praised the president. He commemorated the killing of Osama Bin Laden, and he came out as a bona-fide certified supporter of drone strikes.

Romney also emphasized how Obama’s foreign policy is projecting weakness abroad. He pointed to the president’s apology tour, in which the president toured the Middle East and met with their leaders.

I’m looking forward to Romney’s “No Apologies” book tour; let’s see how that one pans out in the Middle East.

Obama also reiterated his domestic policy over his foreign policy at any given opportunity. Obama worked in the same lines we’ve heard for the last couple months, but to be fair they both did.

If you paid attention very closely you would have seen Obama’s pink banded wrist. Knit-picky stuff, but Romney wasn’t wearing a breast cancer band. Let the record state: Romney cares about fighting breast cancer just as much as the president does … as long as Planned Parenthood isn’t involved.

Obama slammed Romney for his investments in Chinese companies. That’s a pretty low-blow considering everybody making as much money as Romney invests in Chinese companies.

Obama stepped forward as the auto industry’s savior, and attempted to paint Romney as the Grinch of Chryslerville and he did his best to convince voters that Romney is a flip-flopper on the issues. But I’m sort of disappointed he didn’t diagnose the governor with Romneisa. Oh well.

The debates are finally over. Romney may have come out a bit ahead considering his momentum probably wasn’t stymied by the president’s performance last night. But I’ll call it a tie-ish. Obama had a few pretty good zingers. Nothing like Biden’s “malarkey” but that’s okay.

So the final debate score is:

Romney – 1

Obama – 1

Neither – 1

Now it’s up to you, the voters of this great nation. So let me say something neither of the candidates can: go effing vote.

Story by Christian Zerbel 

Staff writer pushes for new voting system

The Electoral College is dumb, and no it isn’t a place.

Voting through the Electoral College was an effective way to distribute power among states in the U.S. back when our founding fathers wrote it into the constitution.  The Electoral College gave incentives for presidential candidates to campaign abroad. With this system the candidates wouldn’t only focus on densely populated areas.

However, that was hundreds of years ago. The Electoral College doesn’t spread out presidential campaigning geographically, at all. 

Ask yourself: how many times have any of the candidates visited Washington state?

The answer is six times since June 12. That’s not so bad, unless you compare that to Ohio’s 86 visits, or Florida’s 81.

With the Electoral College the election is decided by whichever candidate can receive at least 270 of the 538 total votes.

Each state gets a number of electoral votes in relationship to their number of representatives plus senators. But no state can have less than three electoral votes. 

With two exceptions, Nebraska and Maine, every state awards electoral votes in a winner-take-all fashion. So if a candidate scores 51 percent of the popular vote, all of the electoral votes go to that candidate. 

So if you’re like my dad, a staunch conservative, who’ll be voting for the Republican ticket this year, you’re vote won’t count. Washington has been a blue state since 1988 and when Obama gets the popular vote here, which he will, anybody who voted red will be forgotten. All of the electoral votes will go to Obama and any Republican votes (from Washington) can’t influence the election any further. 

That’s how, in 2000, the Electoral College put in place a president that didn’t win the popular vote. Think how different the world would be if Al Gore had taken his rightful place in the Oval Office. I can tell you we probably wouldn’t have gone into Iraq. 

Anyway, the general public votes for electoral middlemen called electors to represent them in the Presidential election. These electors must take the collective votes of the state, down to Washington D.C and vote for whichever candidate the public chose.

That is unless you live in Arizona, New York, Texas or 21 other states that actually don’t require their electors to vote according to the popular vote. In which case only one vote matters, the electors. In instances, appointed electors decide to vote against the popular vote, this is individual is called a faithless elector. 

It should be noted that only once in history that faithless electors have changed an outcome of an election. But faithless electors have changed their minds 85 times in history due to personal preferences.

 I’ll admit that back in George Washington’s day, the quickest means of communication was by horse, and it made sense to elect representatives to vote for their general state-wide population. But considering information now darts across the country instantly, there really isn’t an excuse for letting 538 individuals choose the president.

America needs to find a better Democratic system that will represent the public fairly. 

Story by Christian Zerbel

Presidential race heats up after recent debate

An oratorical showdown leaves Obama in a better place. Well, at least a less worse one.

We saw a different president last night. Still reeling from a massive debate flop that cost Obama the popular vote, the president came to Hofstra University prepared and with a hunger for redemption.


According to break-out polls, it worked … kind of. Obama was polled the winner in last night’s, town-hall style, debate. However, the results were much closer than the Oct. 3 debate.

The moderator, Candy Crowley, struggled to keep the candidates in check. At one point, President Obama spoke over Crowley and Romney noting, “I’m used to being interrupted.”

The president came off aggressive at times, but so did Governor Romney. In fact, at one point in the evening the candidates circled each other, bickering like siblings on a road-trip.

The first question led to an oratorical fire-fight that left both candidates on edge. Their body language became pointed, jagged and their speech became more and more critical as the candidates fought to get the last word in on their opponent.

Obama retorted often throughout the night, “What Mr. Romney said simply isn’t true.”

Romney urged the viewers to “look at the policies opposed to the rhetoric” when it came to the president.

The candidates had their way with the questions, often disregarding the point of the question and instead using it as a jumping-off points to emphasize their campaign objectives.

For example, one audience member asked the candidates their stances on gun control, specifically automatic weapons. Romney weaved in his stances on education and two parent house-holds while making note of the president’s inferior policies.

When Crowley pressed Romney to answer the question more clearly, he surprisingly changed his stance from one he held during his term as Massachusetts Governor.

However, Tuesday’s debate did in fact contain intense conversation, even if it was rough around the edges. Here are a few main points:

• Romney was able to clarify his tax plan to the American public.

• Obama took responsibility for the embassy deaths.

• Romney conveyed to voters that the president’s policies have been hurting not helping economic growth.

• Obama painted Romney as a man who shifts on the issues.

• Romney attacked the president’s foreign policy, making the case that it conveys weakness abroad.

• Obama told the public that Romney, and the GOP, intends to advantage the rich and put the burden on the middle-class.

Both candidates did their best to reach out to women voters who will ultimately swing the election. Romney may have slipped up though when he uttered the phrase “binders full of women.” The inter-web was all over that before the debate even ended.

To be fair, Romney was referring to a high number of applications and recommendations for his Massachusetts cabinet appointees and the comment was in no way meant to be insensitive.

Obama was able to step in and press Romney over his reluctance to say whether or not he would have signed the Lily Ledbetter bill. Obama also made a, perhaps, more emotional case, "I've got two daughters and I want to make sure that they have the same opportunities that anybody's sons have."

However when it came to deciding a winner, polls show Obama just slid past Romney. Obama was able drive his points a bit more effectively.

So was this debate the saving-grace that the Obama campaign needed to lock-in another four years?

Not really. Obama blew that chance with his lack-luster performance in his first rhetorical tango with Romney on Oct 3. As a consequence, Obama must fight for every inch his re-election. But, he was able to redeem himself. And he certainly won the most improved award for the night.

As of now, national polls haven’t swung either way due to the debate but they do show that, while Romney leads in the popular vote, the projected Electoral College favors Obama. Perhaps the president will win his re-election by pulling a Bush*. It’s looking like that may be the case.

Now we look forward to the last of three presidential debates scheduled for Oct 22 at Lynn University, Florida.

*The act of winning a national election that you don’t really deserve to win because of the outdated Electoral College system’s failure to quantify public votes in a rational manner.

Story by Christian Zerbel

Take the steps and vote

Not bothering to vote is like expecting a bullseye and never throwing a dart.

Your last chance to register for voting is Monday, Oct. 8.

Registering is the first of the two-step process in participating in this beautiful federal constitutional republic. After you register, you must complete the last step: actually casting your ballot.

Pick an issue, any issue, if you don’t care who wins or you don’t know who to vote for. Vote according to a party’s stance on it and stick with them. Your party typically won’t change their minds on it, or budge even a little bit.

If you’re against gun control, vote Republican.

If you’re pro-choice, vote Democrat.

If you’re for military spending and lower taxes, vote Republican.

If you’re for a hands-on government approach to healthcare, vote Democrat.

You could go green if you don’t feel like going red or blue – whatever floats your boat.

If you didn’t catch the first of four presidential debates on Wednesday that covered domestic issues, that’s okay. I’m sure Fox News or NPR can fill you in or you can watch it on YouTube yourself.

There is a make-up though. John Stewart and Bill O’Reilly will be holding a live debate on Saturday, Oct. 6.

So vote. Let your voice be heard, because there is nothing worse than a person who complains about the system and won’t take five minutes of their time to help change it.

Follow this link to register to vote, unless the clipboard-strapped activists outside Gray Wolf Hall have already gotten to you.

Story by Christian Zerbel

Sonics fans fight back

When the Seattle City Council voted yes on the Sonics Arena proposal, many of the crestfallen basketball fans were jolted back to life. Beer flowed and glasses raised to Chris Hansen outside of FX McRory's to celebrate the rebirth of basketball, and to usher in the possibility of Seattle hosting a professional hockey team for the first time since the 1920's.

Down the block, at the corner of Edgar and Dave, the Seattle Mariners took the news a different way, and that has come back to bite them in a big bad way.

The Mariners joined a group of maritime-business leaders in objecting the new arena, which sent seething Sonics fans into a rage, taking to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to tell the Mariners how they really feel.

The Mariners Facebook feed has been bombarded the last few days with angry pro-arena supporters making sure the Mariners organization feels their ire.

Fans are finally fed up. "After years of bad teams and bad decisions, now you have to object to the Sonics Arena. I'm done. I'm completely fed up with your complete misunderstanding of Seattle sports fans and their desires," stated one Facebook user.

Today, the arena talk on the M's Facebook page is quiet. Whether or not they're trying to sweep this under the rug is one thing, but sports fans in the Pacific Northwest have made it brutally clear that they are not happy with the Mariners.

Story by Henry Yarsinske Jr.

Need-to-know information for graduates of 2013

Are you not sure how to register to graduate? I’ve got the scoop and a couple tips from an inside source. As diverse as your degree or certificate can be, it’s all the same process.

To get started, walk to Enrollment services in the Parks Student Union building to pick up a “Diploma/Certificate” application, which you will need to fill out

Graduating students can participate in the 7th annual EvCC commencement ceremony being held on Friday, June 14, 2013 at 7 p.m. in the Everett Community College Fitness Center. You must RSVP before or on April 5, 2013 through Student Activities.

There is only one ceremony for any quarter you graduate through the year. You can purchase a cap and gown from the bookstore and tickets. The last step is to arrive at Whitehorse hall at 6 p.m. with your cap and gown, both of which are your ticket to get in the door.

Jennifer Rhodes, director of Student Activities gave tips for students who will be going through the process. “My request to students would be to one – read the information on the graduation site, two – pay attention to and follow the deadlines and three – make sure that Enrollment Services has your most current address and phone number so that we can contact you about graduation.”

Story by Jamie Jacobs