Debate Wrap Up
After last year’s ASUO election that featured seventeen grievances and a heated presidential debate, I was pumped for this years annual ASUO shitshow. Alas, the grievance count still remains at an all time low and the debates were anything but entertaining.
The thunder that sparked the debates last year is gone and this debate seemed nothing more than a elongated question and answer session. Half the time the candidates answered questions sitting down, the other half was candidates talking about outreach.
There were two main issues touched upon during the debates. Campaign spending seemed to dominate most of the debates as the first topic questioned the Oregon Action Team’s morality due to campaign funding. The second biggest issue was whether or not student tickets to football games are more important than funding late night LTD transit to students in the Kinsrow Area.
Sure, over spending on campaign funding is an issue in the current economic climate, but to attack a persons morality on campaign funding is ludicrous. True Blue stuck to one of their main campaign points during the debate stating several times that there campaign budget is $2009 (because it’s the current year, get it? nudge,nudge).
Breakdown of the campaigns during the debates.
Oregon Action Team
Michelle Haley handled questions about the campaign spending with honesty and used clearly explained reasons for her campaign budget, while other candidates just pointed out that they spent more on the slate so far. Ted Sebastian the VP candidate offered up the idea of having a bar on campus ( we will hold you to that if you win).
Students First
Carina Miller talks really fast. I mean really fast. I do not understand what their platform is yet. Gower seemed to be the real talking head during the debates, but came off more pissy than anything else. The guy knows what he is talking but acts like a stuck up thirteen year old girl when he has the mic.
True Blue
Nick Schultz is really good about public speaking, honestly. But I am getting really tired of hearing about their spending cap for campaign finances. These two were a real bitch to film (shameless plug warning. New Oregon Commentator News with Debate Coverage to be posted in the next week) as Nick Schultz is a solid sixteen inches taller than Lidi Soto. Also Soto seems to get a bad case of the giggles when talking in public.
Emma and Getachew
Boring.
iGov people
These guys don’t stand a chance in the election, but made for the most interesting duo during the debates. Their platform is seriously flawed though. How can they expect a student body in which less than 20% vote on ASUO be responsible enough to allocate $11,000,000 through Duckweb? Props for the effort though.
Conclusion
When are we going to get past campaign finance issues and on to the real issues? We want fire, we want grievances, we want something newsworthy to come out of these elections. Also last year at the elections there was a vast amount of soda and those huge pizzas from pizza pipeline, this year there was carrots, broccoli and ranch dip for snacks. Fucking recession.
Thanks Drew. This mustache has changed my life. Now I’m not just that ugly guy over there, I am the ugly guy over there with a mustache. It has also changed my luck, my scratch-it winnings are at an all-time high!
Axelrod did more than Dotters Ratz will ever do.
Delashaws mustache is the best thing about the asuo in years
Set up a dungeon for the UO Duck mascot in the basement.
This might be the best idea you’ve ever cooked up.
If I would have found this lame debate here is what I would have started yelling around about. Seize that abandoned old house (former UO president residence) that is West across University street from the EMU. Cook up plans there (and set up a beer brewing operation there using student fees and the free speech argument) to destroy the athletic dept. Set up a dungeon for the UO Duck mascot in the basement. Essentially it would be the new improved Animal House for student government and anti OSPIGG activists who smoke cigarettes(in the house). Pass a emergency order shutting down the old ASUO office under the pretense that it is ineffective and full of bean counters. Use work study funds to hire student rent a cops to guard each doorway with Tasers. This may prevent UO admin or their agents from infiltrating. The Black Panthers had a good model back in the hippy days-just rework it a bit. After all, what the hell is that old house being used for….Gypsy Moth breeding ? Termite habitat ? Sam had a good idea with that revolution scheme…..who cares about the details. Tear down the student government immediately. Also write into the Clark document that the movie Animal House must be shown in the house at least once a week. On warm evenings project the film on the side of Johnson Hall.
I blame Sam Dotters-Katz for this awful election season.
Here is why:
1. All of the candidates have to support most of what he did as major parts of his platform, because he actually did good things for students. With the rest of their platforms, they have to espouse on the abstract value based messaging which, at a student government level, is really meaningless.
2. He hired Aaron Tuttle, who when not eating, is running an awful election( but he beats kendal tylee any day).
3. Sam ran on the Oregon Action Team last year, and they are running again this year. While I liked the conservative(in ASUO Conservative means you arent a union machine) politics he brought, this year’s OAT is a bunch of dummies. I would rather them then union and program radicals, but this is a sorry group. I hold Sam responsible for the awfully dummie slate OAT put together this year.
4. Sam divided the liberals, and that is why we had to deal with so many shitty teams, because the unions/programs couldn’t even put together a good team.
5. Sam isin’t cheating in these elections like Emily did. If Sam would just go in there and put some wheight on Tuttle, we could have ended this shit show in week one. Cmon Sam, cheat like Emily did would ya!
6. He has Johnny for a vice president, which was actually the best thing he ever did, so no complaints there. Except for one thing, Johnny, let that mustache grow.