Report on Debates 

I think that the debates were overall very impressive and informative. I’m grateful that I listened to them, and wouldn’t have thought of sitting down and actually listening to a whole debate if I hadn’t taken this class. The first debate I watched was the Democratic Debate in Flynt Michigan.

One of the things that impressed me the most was Bernie Sander’s history with civil rights issues. Sanders was arrested in Chicago in the 60’s for trying to desegregate the schools in protests. He has a lot of “street credibility” on these issues. I believe that Hilary was also sincere when she talked about seeing Martin Luther King speak when she was 14 years old. I believe that is what makes the Democrats in some ways more likeable than the Conservatives is their ability to converse about race more honestly. When they talked about the anti-crime bill of 1994, Bernie Sanders made a great point overall about bills- that they have good and bad issues within them. A man was saying that because of that bill, more black men were incarcerated. But Bernie pointed out that if he had voted against the bill, it could be said that he voted for assault rifles and violence against women. I believe both candidates are excellent speakers.

In the Democratic debates, Bernie Sanders brings up over and over again the loss of the middle class. He talks about having been to Mexico and seen people working for .25 a day. He believes Hillary sided with Wall Street, and if she's going to say anything against them she shouldn't be giving speeches for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hilary defended herself to claiming that Sanders is a one sided candidate and criticized him for not seeing the whole picture on many issues, and for voting against the Export import banks. Bernie believes that we have to do all that we can to avoid jobs going overseas so that the “fatcats” can save money by employing slave laborers.

On the 2^nd amendment issue, they had the father of a 14 year old girl who was nearly killed by a man with a gun in an Uber car in Kalamazoo Michigan. HE pointed out that the man who shot his daughter had no mental illness or record in his past. I think that this issue is complex but I agree more with Sanders. They both feel that guns should be restricted. Where it seems they differ is that Sanders doesn’t believe that gun sellers should be punished if somebody buys the gun and uses it. Hilary seems to want to completely outlaw guns where it seems that Sanders has a more realistic view, and even though he is “not popular” with the NRA doesn’t believe in completely outlawing guns.

On March 10, 2016 there was a Republican Debate. It seems like they behaved themselves a bit better than other debates but there was a lot of arguments

One thing that impressed me about Cruz was taking a stance against Common Core. My ex girlfriend is a school teacher in Pacoima California and believes that Common Core is not useful in increasing knowledge and productivity. It seems to add more confusion than anything. I think it’s great that Cruz took such a strong stand against it, saying that he would end it as soon as possible.

I know that a lot of people think that Trump is full of it, but I think he has a pretty accurate grasp on a lot of things. I like that he says that we are too easy on other countries that we Trade with. He says that as a businessman, he can’t believe what a bad deal we have China. He says China makes it very difficult to do business in over there, and yet we make it easier for them. He seems to be interested in evening out the playing field. As a business man it seems like he thinks that America has been getting screwed.  I agree with him that we should build more products in America.

Regarding Islam, Rubio makes a very good point that a lot of people who serve in the armed forces are Moslems. Trump feels that there is “tremendous hate” from Islam and points out how horribly women are treated. I think it’s a very complex problem. . I thought it was cool when Rubio countered Trump by saying he was interested in being politically correct, but just plain correct. When I was in India I knew a lot of Muslims who weren’t radicals. Rubio believes we need to work with the Sunnis to try and improve our relationship with Muslims. I think Trump takes a harsher position with them, which makes him popular with the conservatives.