 "Photo: Jennifer Jansons")
The road to the White House will run through the University's West Mall today at 11:30 a.m. Students advertising their organizations or looking for a place to socialize will have to make way for a debate between presidential candidates Michael Badnarik of the Libertarian Party and David Cobb of the Green Party.
The Longhorn Libertarians and UT Campus Greens are hosting a debate between the two candidates in hopes of informing students that they have more than the two traditional party choices when voting. Ben Philpot of KUT radio and Daily Texan associate editor JJ Hermes will be moderating the event for the first 30 minutes. The second half of the debate will be open for questions from the audience.
The debate is targeted at allowing the audience to get honest views from the candidates about issues that the two major parties have avoided, said Bill Holloway, UT Campus Greens liaison and debate organizer.
Philpot said today's event will focus on similar issues as the Bush-Kerry debates, but he also plans to bring up topics specific to Texas, such as education, health insurance and immigration. Philpot said this debate will differ in that candidates are likely to agree on more issues, because they both disagree with the Democrat and Republican parties.
In fact, the Libertarian and Green parties share many of the same goals for today's debate. Representatives of both candidates said they are trying to bring fresh ideas and voices to voters while publicizing their parties. Holloway and Longhorn Libertarian president Ben Woosley said not enough people know about their parties due to lack of attention from the media. By having the debates on the West Mall, they hope to reach out to those who wouldn't normally have access to this type of event. At least 100 supporters are expected, and about 150 high school students are coming from San Antonio and Dallas.
Jason Neville, national field organizer for the Cobb campaign, said the goal was not to win the presidency but to grow and build the Green Party.
"The young voter is the best place the Green Party can go," Neville said. "We speak about the matters that matter to them."
The parties said they want to encourage voters to "vote their conscience" and discard the belief that voting for a third party is wasting a vote. Patrick Dixon, state chairman of the Texas Libertarian Party, said that he wants students to realize that they don't have to "follow the leader" when it comes to voting.
"Its not about winning the presidency," Dixon said. "But if we can let people know that there's a party that represents them, then we've already won."
Debate issues: * War in Iraq * Economy * Texas education * Health care * Immigration
West Mall : 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. In case of rain, debate will be moved to Texas Union Ballroom.
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