Princetonians react to candidates' final match

In their last chance to duke it out on national television, Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush fired shots at one another in last night's debate, as each tried to win over undecided voters who likely will compose the margin of victory in the closest presidential race in recent memory.

Both candidates fared well in this third and final contest, which proved less vicious than the first debate but more charged than the second. According to an ABC News poll taken directly after the debate's conclusion, the same proportion of viewers — 41 percent — believed that each candidate came out on top in last night's scuffle.

The forum, which was held at Washington University in St. Louis, was the only one to occur in a true battleground state. Both candidates were under strong pressure to capitalize on this final opportunity to impress the nation in the last few weeks before the Nov. 7 election.

Members of a focus group assembled by The Daily Princetonian to watch the debate commented afterward that the town-hall format used last night better highlighted the candidates' differences than did previous structures.

"I thought it was the most successful of the debates in contrasting the two," Mathey College Director of Studies Steven Lestition said.

Predictably, participants tended to find fault with the candidate they opposed and to believe their candidate had done better, though most agreed that the debate was a close match.

"I distrust Gore," said USG vice president Spence Miller '02, who characterized the vice president as "extremely stiff." Miller called himself a strong Bush supporter.

Noting that Gore was widely expected to be the better debater coming into the contests, David Dempsey '01 — who also plans to vote for Bush — said he believed "Bush at least matched Gore in this debate."

Though he felt Gore did relatively well in the debate, Dempsey pointed out what he saw as the candidate's weaknesses, including a lack of personality. "[Gore] has the vision of a blind goose in a hailstorm," he said.

College Democrats legislative director Shauna Burgess '03 hesitated to declare either candidate the clear victor. "I don't think either one was particularly strong in this debate," she said.

GSG president Lauren Hale GS emphasized that she saw Gore as a better choice. "I'm not even a huge Gore fan," she said, but added, "I think Gore is absolutely the better candidate in this case."

During the debate, focus group members commented on the action and occasionally butted heads on matters of policy and style. Democrats applauded when Gore promised to enact campaign finance reform legislation, and Republicans broke into laughter when Bush called Gore a "big spender."

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

In one exchange, several group members commented on the candidates' body language. When some participants remarked that Bush appeared more genuine than his opponent, Lestition shot back, "One person's interpretation of a smile is another man's smirk. I think [Bush] is dripping with arrogance."

The debate ranged from health care to foreign affairs to taxes. "I thought Gore was doing incredibly when he brought up campaign finance reform," Hale said.

Christopher Cox '01, who said that education was the most important issue to him in this campaign, said of Gore, "He's so beholden to special interests like the [National Education Association]. I don't know how I can trust him in education."

Despite their political differences, members of the focus group said they sensed Gore is more popular than Bush in the University community.

Burgess noted that both candidates spent more time on issues that appeal to older Americans, a higher proportion of whom vote, than on issues that appeal to young people. "I think it's pretty disgraceful how we've been ignored by both candidates," she said.

Members split for the most part along lines of party affiliation when asked to predict who would win on Nov. 7. Though Cox — a Bush supporter — said he thought Gore would win, Hale reserved judgement.

"I just can't say," she lamented. "I'm boggled."