Last night I attended a debate between the UNC-Chapel Hill College Republicans and Young Democrats. It was a fairly high-excitement event, as far as campus politics go. Here are a few thoughts, observations, and one-liners from the event.
-Anthony Dent opened for the Republicans, calling Obama’s first two years a failure and expounding on the left’s flawed view of human nature. He may not yet be Demosthenes as far as rhetoric, but it was nonetheless a pretty high-brow speech for a student group.
-David Murray fired the first Democrat volley, rather loudly yelling and pointing at the Republicans, calling them xenophobes and, if I remember correctly, corporate shills. Interestingly, none of the Republicans felt inclined to respond to these charges, preferring to talk about issues instead.
-Both sides seemed almost exclusively focused on addressing the Democrats in the audience. The Republicans tried to persuade them while the Democrat debaters seemed more focused on winning approbation from their fellows.
-?I?m glad to see that someone who actually deserved the peace prize won it this year.? -Anthony Dent, responding to a question about this year’s Nobel Prize for peace.
-?Are you going to blame President Bush for the NCAA investigation, too?? -Jason Sutton, Republican, referring to the ongoing investigation of UNC-CH football players.
I don’t know if any hearts or minds were changed last night one way or the other, but I was certainly impressed with the command of facts from both sides. The CR-YD debate is usually one of the highlights of the semester, and last night’s showdown didn’t disappoint.
