Eli Harman (’09): Secretary, NC State College Libertarians

That’s a tough one. Things like campaign finance reform, restricting negative advertising… those don’t really resonate with me. I think all of those seem like unnecessary restrictions on people’s freedom to say what they want to say. If I wanted to make campaigns more amicable and less strife-ridden, the best thing to do would be to restrict the power of government to sacrifice some people’s interests for other people’s interests. If we get back to a government that is all about protecting people’s rights, rather than selling some people up the creek to reward others, you wouldn’t need to have that strife. A lot of the ugliness we see during the election season has to do with the ugliness that we allow government to get away with, so you get these competing interest groups fighting over it like wolves fighting over a carcass. If we can get back to the source and clean up government, then I think the campaigns will fall in line as well.

 

Brett Little (’09): Students for Barack Obama

The mainstream media needs to give third-party candidates more coverage. If they gave Ross Perot more coverage in 1992, I honestly believe more people would have voted for him than did George Bush. That may be a stretch for some people, but I think the mainstream media, as well as the organization and political structure we have in place, is not set up to where third parties have a chance. I think Perot participated in one debate with Clinton and Bush in 1992. Really, third-party candidates don’t have a chance to win an election – they can influence an election, but they have no chance to win like they would in Europe, where things are wide open.

If we had more of a system that represented a wide array of interests, it would be a lot healthier for democracy, and it would be beneficial to people from all different backgrounds. People could find their place in their respective parties – if you were part of a union, you could join a labor party. Or if your forte is taking up for the little guy, you could be part of a poverty-focused party, and so on. If we made it more wide open, I think it would get a lot more people interested because it would cover a wider array of interests, and thereby increase turnout. With all of these competing interests, people won’t want to miss out because their own self-interests would actually be reflected in a political party.

 

Ches McDowell (’11), chairman, NC State College Republicans

With everything going on with groups like ACORN [Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now], I think the most important thing to do is to eliminate voter fraud, which allows people to register and vote any number of times. That would be the best thing to do to ensure a fair election.

 

Dr. Andrew J. Taylor, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at NC State University

I think there is enough blame to go around, but I would like to see more of a substantive discussion on something other than, “What I plan to do for you if elected.” It’s easy for a candidate to say “I’ll give you everything,” but I’d rather see more of a judicious statement of what each candidate will do, given the kinds of conditions under which they know they will govern.

So, as a candidate, you understand the budgetary constraints. You understand the fact you will have to work with Congress. You understand that the world is full of other powerful and sometimes unfriendly countries, so that you say, “Look, these are my basic principles and I understand that my freedom is limited, so this is what you can expect me to achieve.”

Candidates have got to prioritize, and show how their plan fits into the real-world situation that the winner will find himself in on January 20. Of course, it’s not in their interest to do this – if they start, the other party’s candidates are going to say, “Look, he’s backtracking!” In 1984, Walter Mondale said, “I’ll raise taxes and so would Ronald Reagan, but he won’t admit it.” That was simply devastating to his chances of being elected.

 

NC State Presidential Experts

North Carolina State University experts can provide clear insights into the pending general election and a host of key issues that will face the presidential contenders.