2012 election
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By Donna Musolli for The 12
Wayne State University students weighed in on the final presidential debate over foreign policy and the candidates’ positions in the days following it.
Failing to mention the Euro crisis kept Americans from seeing each candidate’s knowledge of the crisis and general stance on the issue, senior political science student Alexander Kappaz said.
“I was extremely disappointed that any of the debates failed to mention the Euro crisis. Romney insists on comparing America to countries like Spain and Greece. I find this perplexing because the crisis in Spain was caused by sovereign debt and currency which is not analogous to the economic situations in Greece. So either Romney is economically illiterate, or being incredibly disingenuous on purpose to hammer home a fear-mongering talking point,” Kappaz said. “It would have been interesting to see Obama’s response to the crisis and I would have liked to see at least one of the candidates articulate why these situations are different.”
While some students felt that the absence of certain topics were detrimental to the debate, others did not.
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By Emily Morman for The 12
President Barack Obama and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney verbally battled over many topics during the Oct. 16 debate, not the least of which was immigration.
Obama said he was in favor of a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, whereas Romney said he would not grant “amnesty” to people who enter the U.S. without documentation.
Junior psychology and pre-med student Dave Lepoudre said he thinks Romney represents the immigration policy that’s best for the U.S.
“We shouldn’t have people who are illegal immigrants working for us and coming into our country,” he said.
“In a sense, I believe Romney is pro on bringing in legal immigrants,” he said. “I believe Obama just wants immigrants in general.”
Marie Muhammad, a junior who’s co-majoring in environmental science and geology, was also focused on Romney’s stance on immigration.
“I am backing Obama, but I do want to hear what Romney’s saying,” she said. “I don’t want to be biased.”
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By Emily Morman for The 12
Vice President Joe Biden may have been laughing during his Oct. 11 debate against GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, but his behavior didn’t put a smile on the faces of some students at Wayne State University.
Both candidates played offense during their first and only square-off, but WSU students said the candidates’ behavior and attitudes were what made the difference to them.
Senior pre-med student Sai Dalavayi said he was “unimpressed” by Biden’s behavior, particularly his reactions to Ryan’s statements.
“Vice President Biden was just flat-out laughing, and the lack of professionalism definitely impacted his performance,” he said. “He didn’t treat it with the same kind of respect that Paul Ryan was giving him.”
Sophomore marketing student Richard Benoist also said he thought Ryan gave a stronger performance during the debate.
“I think that Ryan had the upper hand because he can talk about what Biden and (President Barack) Obama haven’t done, and he can talk about what he will do,” he said. “I support Biden, but most of the time, he just sat there and smiled, and then giggled, but he didn’t really have as much to go off of.”
The vice presidential candidates touched on a number of issues during the debate moderated by ABC News Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz, including foreign policy, taxes, healthcare and abortion.
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“
Sorry he didn’t do a better job.”
- Michigan rocker Kid Rock on President Obama as he introduced GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, at a campaign rally at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. -
Michael Stroud, a Wayne State University student, explains why he is a proud Republican.
Why are you a Republican, a Democrat, or neither? The Washington Post is gathering responses to that question at the Republican National Convention in Tampa this week for Unconventional.
Send us a message, tag the Washington Post in a SocialCam video and title it “Unconventional,” or tweet your response using the hashtag #VoterVoices.
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![theatlantic:
Red State Reads, Blue State Reads: What Are Residents in Your State Reading?
By clicking each state, you can see the top book sales and what percentage leans more Republican or Democrat. Amazon categorized the books and then correlated them with shipping addresses to make the map, which is updated hourly to match sales in the past 30 days.
Read more. [Image: Amazon.com]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m942nnr7Qo1qcokc4o1_500.png)
Red State Reads, Blue State Reads: What Are Residents in Your State Reading?
By clicking each state, you can see the top book sales and what percentage leans more Republican or Democrat. Amazon categorized the books and then correlated them with shipping addresses to make the map, which is updated hourly to match sales in the past 30 days.
Read more. [Image: Amazon.com]
(via mtvpowerof12)
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Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin’s response to a Sunday news show question on abortion has some in the GOP calling for him to bow out of the race, She the People’s Melinda Henneberger writes.
Here’s more on his original comments.
“First of all, from what I understand from doctors, (pregnancy from rape) is really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV in a clip posted to YouTube by the Democratic super PAC American Bridge. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
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Would you say you, yourself are better off financially than you were when Obama became president, not as well off, or in about the same shape as then financially?
“I don’t think my financial situation has changed. I don’t think that any of what Obama has done has affected it in either direction.” — Diane Raymond, 25, Manchester, NH
See more responses to this question on The Post’s Liberty: Through the Lens project, the second in a series of photo and audio essays on Virginia voters’ opinions as they wrestle with the issues of 2012.
What’s your response? Tell us on Tumblr here, or on Twitter using #VoterVoices.
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President Obama leads Romney in Michigan, 48-42, in a poll released Wednesday by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA. The poll of 600 likely voters was conducted in late July.
In June, an EPIC-MRA poll showed Romney leading Obama 46-45.
In the past week, Rasmussen Reports and Public Policy Polling showed Obama leading in Michigan, while Mitchell Research had Romney with a one point lead, within the margin of error.
WSU students weigh the candidates’ positions on foreign policy
WSU students paying close attention to Romney’s immigration stance
Biden’s reactions no laughing matter for WSU students
Does Barack Obama need to say to voters, “I’ve made mistakes?” And if so, how does he say it?
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