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Issue date: 10/3/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Kimberley Parker, Photographer Columnist Maureen Dowd talks to the crowded C.J. Davdison offering her opinions on the election.

In the middle of a heated voting frenzy, noted Pulitzer Prize winner and left-wing New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd appeared before a welcoming crowd in the C.J. Davidson Center to reflect on the issues of the current election. Dowd touched base on a wide array of subjects relevant to the upcoming election in November including the government's recent attempts to bail out the economy.

"Who would have dreamed that when socialism finally came into the USA, it would be brought not by Bolshevik... but by Wall Street's bankruptcy and Gucci loafers," Dowd said.

Dowd criticized Republican John McCain for using the current Wall Street crises as a crutch to reschedule the debate.

"Because of the bailout crises, John McCain has decided to bail out of the debate," Dowd said. "Yesterday, there was a debate about the debate. It really was a crisscross contest to see who was tougher, or who was more manly."

Dowd was also critical of the newly-announced Republican vice president selection Sarah Palin, often making cynical remarks about her lack of experience dealing with Washington politics. According to Dowd, the rescheduled debate has helped Palin dodge tough questions.

"McCain argued that the economic crisis is too serious to allow him to show up (for the debate) and Obama argued it was too serious not to," Dowd said.

"McCain might have been thinking it would be a sneaky way to cancel the vice presidential debate and save Sarah Palin from getting drilled."

Dowd also commented on America starting to become a second-rate power under the Bush administration, stating that his experienced staff has failed him.

"Americans want to feel American again," Dowd said. "They want to be winners, not losers. They want to be prosperous and generous."

Many students in attendance responded to Dowd's remarks with applause and a standing ovation.

Freshman Travis Barnett said he thought Dowd's message was thought-provoking.

"I thought her speech was very relevant to what's going on and especially with the idea of the American stereotype playing on the Western stereotype," Barnett said.

"But that's what the two presidential candidates right now are running on."

Sophomore Matthew Hejil said he perceived Dowd's commentary in a different light.

"There was so much Republican bashing and she couldn't have made it any clearer who she was going to vote for," Hejil said.

"I almost got the feeling she was trying to campaign for Obama in this auditorium."

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