The Stteen / Wedn esdy Otbe 7,21 statement Magazine Editor: Trevor Calero Editor in Chief: Jacob Smilovitz Managing Editor: Matt Aaronson Deputy Editor: Jenna Skoller Designers: Sara Boboltz Corey DeFever Photo Editor: Jed Moch Copy Editors: Erin Flannery Danqing Tang The Statement is The Michigan Daily's news magazine, distributed every Wednesday during the academic year. To contact The Statement e-mail calero@michi- gandaily.com. THEELECTIONISSUE random student interview by will grundler Wednesday October 27,2010 // The Statement DINGELL, STEELE BRING DIFFERENT LEVELS OF EXPERIENCE TO 15TH DISTRICT CONGRESSIONAL RACE BY MICHELE NAROV elcome to the Random Student Political Inter- view, in which we will gauge whether most students are liberal or extremely liberal. We're at the circulation desk in the south entrance of the Graduate Library. Please state your name and class standing for the record. Nazifa, and I'm a senior. on which side of the face does Gov- ernor Granholm have that mole? Right side. Correct. And who are the two can- didates for governor of Michigan? Um, Idon't know. Any guess? I've seen those commercials being all, like, this guy is evil and laying off people. Who are you going to vote for on Nov. 2? Is the 2nd a Tuesday? (Checks sched- ule.) I'm probably not going to vote. I have class from ten to seven. Would you say you're pretty lib- eral? I'm pretty liberal. Socially, fiscally, relationship- wise? What does that mean? You need to define that before - When you see a person wearing a "Michigan Republican" shirt, do you give them a disapproving look? No. They can be Republicans if they want to be. At the University of Michigan? it'd be surprising, but they do have a table on the Diag. It's a really small table. I think they actually have the smallest table. Anyway, you work here. When I'm on "Ask a Librarian" is that you? That's not me. That's one of the second floor reference librarians who actu- ally know what they're talking about. Because I've asked them out on dates and they always say no. Are they adults? They are. They have degrees in library science. You're joking. There's no degree in libraryscience. Look it up! Maybe at Michigan State. I'm pretty sure there's one here. (Checks online.) it's in the School of Information. What a waste of$80,000.Whatkind of scare tactics would you use to keep Republicans away from polls? I don't think I'd use scare tactics. That's unfair. What ifyou said - Like, "If you vote, you'll die?" No, no, they wouldn't go for that, but what if you said the Rapture is happening today, or something like that? So they stay home and prepare? (Laughter.) Exactly. How long would you keep Obama in office? Untilhe dies? I would keep him around until Sarah Palin, for whatever reason, wasn't eli- gible to run for office. Did you see Bill Cosby this weekend at Rackham? You mean Bill Clinton? So you do know a little bit about politics. How many senators do we have in Congress? Well, it's like a 60 person majority, so... would it be like 110? Maybe you don't. Do we let people from the U.P.vote? Yeah. But should we let them vote? Because they're close to Canada? Is that the argument? That's one of the arguments. I mean, if you let people from the South vote, why not the U.P.? Well, that's a whole other issue, what with the Civil War and all. Who did you vote for in the MSA elections? I didn't vote in the MSA elections. Do you vote in any elections? I voted in the presidential election. But the president is asking you to vote in this election, so he can get re-elected. That's true. Honestly, if my Tuesday wasn't 10-7 class, I'd be more likely to vote. I actually wrote in Albus Dumb- ledore for the last MSA elections. Seriously? Yes. Should we consider socialism as a system of government? It works for the UK. What about in America? Don't you want free tuition? I don't see many problems with the socialist system. You get a free pass from the gov- ernment, basically, I think. Well, even communism isn't that bad of a system when you look at it in its ideal form - Woah, woah. You're on record here. Lastquestion: Sum upyourpolitical philosophyinthreeto1Owords.The three words can't be, "I don't care." I like Obama. Sarah Palin frightens me. I'm going to come off like a total moron in this interview. That's allright. Most people do, but nobodyreads it. Does it ever get frustrating, writing for a publication that nobody reads? This interview is over. - Nazifa is an LSA senior. ith 55 years in office, Rep- resentative John Ding- ell is the longest serving member of Congress. His opponent in Michigan's 15th district, however, is quite the opposite, having never before run for office. But despite his inexperience as a politician, Republican Rob Steele, a cardiologist, emphasizes his role as a community member and career man as attributes that will aid him in office, Steele varies greatly from Dingell in his opinions on political over-reg- ulation. Steele says that government interference has lead to less action in several areas and that his lack of knowledge about Washington will serve as a strength rather than a det- riment. While Dingell defends Medicare, Steele calls the Medicare system "broken" and believes that the new government health care system will only create more red tape problems for citizens, according to his cam- paign website. Elizabeth Barrett, communica- tions director for Dingell's cam- paign, wrote in an e-mail to The Michigan Daily that Dingell whole- heartedly supports these systems. She wrote that Dingell hopes not only to protect Medicare for citi- zens, but also to continue to work for better health care within the parameters of the new government plan. "He will be a watchdog for health care reform to protect the patients' bill of rights, which he authored," she wrote. "And he will work to make sure it is effectively imple- mented for a solid, lasting and help- ful reform." Steele and Dingell also differ on their education reform objectives. The former feels that government funding is not the problem with edu- cation and instead points to proper schooling as the larger issue. Dingell, on the other hand, hopes to fight for more government funds to make higher education more available. "He will protect the Direct Loan and the Pell Grant Award Programs for Michigan higher education so that more young people have access to higher education to keep the great minds of the future here in the Unit- ed States," Barrett told the Daily. According to his campaign site, Steele believes Dingell has not done enough to protect the district against unemployment problems plaguing the state, but Barrett wrote that Dingell aims to continue to focus on this issue in the future. "He knows the job situation is dif- ficult for young people right now," she wrote. "That is why he is work- ing with new industries to bring jobs back to Michigan. Steele cites fair taxes and govern- ment accountability as other impor- tant issues, writing on his website that government spending in Wash- ington is out of control and must be curbed. n Dingell (right), candidates for U.S. Representa In an October -5, interview with The Michigan Daily, Steele said he feels his opponent is too consumed with larger government interven- tion. "(Dingell has) been in the posi- tion where he thinks every solution starts and ends in Washington D.C., and that's just not the case," Steele said. Because of the vast differences tive for Michigan's 15th Congressional district between the candidates, Barrett urged students to become informed and vote. She wrote that Dingell feels it is important for students to be involved in the election. "He wants to make sure students are aware and vote on Tuesday," she wrote. "As he says, our young people are only a quarter of our popula- tion, but they are 100 percent of our future." PROPOSAL 2: PROHIBIT FELONS FROM H OLDING ELECTIVE OFFICE BY CLAIRE GOSCICKI BREW YOUR. OWN BEER? Want to know if it's any good? Enter it into the Daily's second annual Home Brew Competition. E-MAIL CALERO@MICHIGANDAILY.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION One of two statewide proposals on the upcoming November ballot, Proposal 10-2 is reconsider- ing the state's current criteria for who can and cannot run for elect- ed office or work in certain public positions., If approved, the proposal would amend the state's constitution by prohibiting people from holding future elected, appointed or public employment if they have committed a crime in the preceding 20 years. The crime has to have involved dis- honesty, deceit, fraud or a breach of public trust related to that person's official capacity in an elected or governmental position. The new legislation comes after Michigan government officials Kwame Kilpatrick and Monica Conyers, among others, received criminal charges in recent years for felonies committed while serving the city of Detroit. State Senator Tupac Hunter (D- Detroit), in an interview with The Associated Press, said the proposal is about "sending an anti-corrup- tion message to officeholders and policymakers statewide." In a Sept. 23 press release issued by his office, Hunter - who spon- sored the proposal when it was in development in the Senate - said the proposal will give voters the chance to "clean up government." "Proposal 10-2 will give voters the chance to...say, once and for all, that they will not tolerate politi- cians who use their office or their jobs at the expense of the people they serve," Hunter said in the release. Senator Mark Jansen (R-Grand Rapids) has also voiced his support for the proposal, calling to attention the importance of integrity in pub- lie officials: "Integrity is of the utmost impor- tance for our public officials who have the responsibility to impact public policy or spend taxpayer dol- lars," he said in the Sept. 23 press release. Vincent Hutchings, a professor in the University's political sci- ence department and a research professor at the Institute for Social Research, said he doubts there are a large number of voters who are particularly interested in the issue at hand. "It seems to me that there's a con- cern out there that the people who are currently in office are engaged in corrupt actions," he said, "...not that people who are guilty will get into office." Hutchings, who has studied vot- ing issues, added that the general public is probably mostly unedu- cated about the proposal. "People aren't combing the Internet to find out what sort of ini- tiatives are on the ballot," he said. "They're concerned about far more weighty matters." The proposal, if approved, will take effect on Dec. 18. BREW YOUR OWN BEER? Want to know if it's any good? Enter it into the Daily's second annual Home Brew Competition. E-MAIL CALERO@MICHIGANDAILY.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION.