Overshadowed throughout the presidential debates, issues
critical to minorities took center stage in last night’s
NAACP informational meeting in an effort to educate minority voters
in the upcoming election.

For minorities, clear messages from different candidates on the
issues important to them have been absent during much of the
campaign, said Alexandra Moffett, NAACP’s election
coordinator for the University.

“With all the events going and the partisan stuff
involved, it’s hard for people to understand what is going
on. So we wanted an event that could educate and get people
informed when they go to vote,” said Moffett, an LSA
sophomore.

Honing in on the different presidential candidates,
spokespersons from the Bush, Kerry and Nader campaigns presented
their candidates’ stances on the issues at the William Monroe
Trotter House. The debate took place under the power outage, which
engulfed much of the northeastern side of the off-campus
neighborhood, including Trotter House.

Paul Spurgeon, a member of the College Democrats, spoke on
behalf of the Kerry campaign and acknowledged the presidential
candidate had not fully addressed many minority issues.

Due to efforts to gain mainstream votes, he said both Democratic
nominee John Kerry and President Bush have neglected to galvanize
the minority vote, by shifting the focus of their campaigns from
minority concerns, he said.

“Kerry has lost a chance to reach out to the minority
community, and that does him a disservice,” he said.

But the Massachusetts senator’s policies have kept in line
with the much of the minority community, Spurgeon added.

Kerry’s opposition to the gay marriage ban, his support
for race-conscious admissions and his call for America to intervene
to stop the massacres in Sudan have given him the backing of many
minorities, he said.

But Spurgeon said that even with the lack of attention from
Kerry, minorities are fed up with the Bush administration.
Bush’s attempts to force soldiers, many of whom are
minorities, to stay in Iraq while at the same he tries to abolish
race-conscious policies in schools have all but enraged many
minorities he added.

Moreover, Bush’s policies are so radical they even defy
Republican rhetoric, alienating minority voters, Spurgeon said.

“People will vote for Kerry because they are tired of
Bush. Bush is doing a

terrible job, and minorities are recognizing that,” he
added.

Assuming that minority issues contrast from the majority of
Americans is a distortion though, said a representative of the Bush
campaign who wished to be anonymous.

“African Americans are the same as everyone else in
general. They are concerned about the same issues of security and
the economy. And so they will vote for Bush,” he said.

At the same time, the Bush administration has addressed concerns
of the minority community, he said. For issues like race-conscious
policies at universities, the Bush administration does recognize
the value in diversity, he said. Yet Bush also wants to take a
different approach, believing race should not be the only factor in
college admissions.

“Diversity should be a factor, but it should not be the
factor,” he added.

Facing the many minorities is also the lack of jobs as the
unemployment level for Blacks and Latinos falls below the national
average. The Bush administration curbed those unemployment levels
he said. With another Presidential term, the Bush administration
would ultimately reverse that trend under the success of the
current economic policies of the President he added.

Furthermore, with this steady growth of the economy and the
continued safety of America because of the Bush-established
homeland security department, the representative said he expects a
majority of minorities will vote for Bush.

To Esha Krishnaswamy though, co-coordinator of Students for
Nader, both Bush and Kerry underplay minority issues and offer no
constructive plans to elevate the lower socio-economic standing of
blacks and Latinos. Neither of the two candidates plan to create
free health care or make colleges free for all Americans, which
America desperately needs since 40 million Americans live at the
poverty level, she said.

“Kerry says he’ll ease the college tuition rates,
but Nader believes everyone should go to college.”

LSA sophomore Bridget Maelin said the contrasting viewpoints
effectively focused on the different sides to the issues.

“I think without this, people would have voted without
knowing much of anything about the issues,” she said.

The sorority Delta Sigma Theta also sponsored the event.