It's been over thirty years since the state of Pennsylvania last set the stage for a presidential debate. Not since 1976, when Gerald Ford took on Jimmy Carter in Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theater, has the ‘birthplace of American democracy’ hosted such an event. This year, democracy (or those fighting for it) made its way back to the city of brotherly love for the fourth of the Democratic National Committee’s 2008 debates. And since everyone loves to see politics tossed around at University campuses, where the future minds of America are certainly most vivacious and eager to help create a better nation, Philadelphia’s Drexel University was master of ceremonies to the much anticipated show.
And, indeed, a show it was. Drexel University’s president, Constantine Papadakis, advertised the event as the most exciting part of Drexel Votes 2008, the university's initiative program to educate students about intelligent voting through a series of events and seminars aimed at fulfilling, what Drexel calls, its mission of education, public service, and civic engagement.
The event aired live on MSNBC Tuesday night, so naturally there was quite a swarm of people performing for the media crews outside. As the sun set on the city streets, the sidewalks erupted with enthusiastic demonstrators shouting out the supremacy of their favorite candidates. Although nine major candidates appeared on stage to duke it out for the democratic ticket, only five of them made their way out onto the billboards on the street.
The sight was chaotic and out of place; it was as if the rally was a high school football game. Men and women jumped about with Hillary Clinton stickers plastered to their faces while Joe Biden’s supporters danced and cheered for a ‘cup of Joe.’ The energy was orchestrated by a few rally leaders outfitted in custom made t shirts and glitter, conducting the rest of the party from the street. Eventually Joe Biden’s camp broke out purple glow sticks and fastened them to their signs and around their necks.
I asked a few young women supporting Barack Obama about their contributions to the event, and they eagerly told me they’d integrated the “5-6-7-8” before the rest of crowed shouted “Barack Obama in 08.” I asked others in the Hillary gang about why Clinton got them so excited; they told me she was the best representative of all walks of life. Indeed, Hillary did seem to attract a spectrum of cheerleaders; I even saw a small child thrusting a ‘Clinton Country’ sign in the air and leading the chorus of Hillary Clinton songs. There were quite a lot of people to see outside the Drexel Debates, but one group I didn’t see much of was Drexel students.
I found out later, they were all watching from their dorm rooms and the campus common center called the quad. The University did hold a lottery to select a small number of students to see the debates firsthand, but none of the Drexelites I interacted with were amongst the chosen few, and most couldn’t agree on how many students were.
Suffice it to say that much of the insanity outside the debates made its way inside, especially when Tim Russert grilled Dennis Kucinich on whether or not he has seen a UFO, and Barack Obama was asked to comment on his Halloween costume. ‘Education and civil engagement’ was a no go here.
Drexel’s Mandell Theater was packed with students watching the action on a drop down screen. They stayed long after the show ended because all of the candidates were invited to speak to some of the thousands of hosts and hostesses who had been eagerly making way for weeks. Only a third of the candidates seized the opportunity to engage with the Drexel students. Barack Obama was already being touted as the winner of the debates, but he won for other reasons when he showed up at the Mandell Theater first. Dennis Kucinich arrived next and interacted one on one with students asking questions from the audience. And even though media reporters had little else on their minds when they interviewed Kucinich, none of the students asked him about UFOs. Finally, Joe Biden closed the event with a tremendous speech which, as many students told me, blew them away.
When I talked to students, they couldn’t have been more excited by what was going on. Most of them agreed the debates were a toss up between Obama, Kucinich, and Biden: the same three candidates who took time out to speak at the theater.
I asked a couple of seniors what they thought about the Drexel Votes 2008 program, but they had no idea what I meant. They were still gracious to the university for ‘register to vote’ crews posted on campus, but they hadn’t been to any seminars or events, especially not the most important one of all.
Drexel students told me the debates really upped the status of the school. It would have been nice if the school had allowed its students to improve the quality of the debates. They certainly wouldn’t have asked about spacecraft.
Elizabeth Licorish
Email: Elizabeth(at)ElitesTV.com
