Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich stood out for their prior experience but failed to differentiate themselves on many issues, argued students who attended Lifetime Television's "Every Woman Counts" panel in Moore Theatre Sunday.
Much of the debate focused on domestic violence against women, yet the candidates weren't able to distinguish themselves on this issue, student attendees said. Several times, the candidates deferred to one another's views on the issue.
"I was pleased with the breadth and depth of the questions, but all the candidates seemed to be saying the same thing," said Margie Graham '04, a Dean supporter.
However, the candidates did differ slightly in where they placed the blame for violence against women. Lieberman cited video games like Grand Theft Auto for encouraging men to take out their violence against women.
"I think Lieberman's views on violent video games causing violence against women are absurd. The game's already recommended to only those over 17," said Rahul Sangwan '07.
Many students did respond to the fact that Lieberman and Dean had more experience handling such issues than did Kucinich.
"I liked how Dean and Lieberman have already handled most of these issues in Vermont and the Senate, and were able to back up their rhetoric with past actions," said Cindy Wu '05, a Kerry supporter.
"Dean and Lieberman seemed genuinely concerned about women's issues while I got the feeling that Kucinich was just paying lip-service to them to sway women voters." agreed Kim Furlong, a local resident.
Many students said they connected with Dean because of the concrete examples he was able to provide from his 11 years as Vermont governor.
"Dean was able to clearly explain what he'd done in Vermont in terms of child care and domestic violence, how he would do the same on the national scale," said Lizabeth Martin '00, now a student at Dartmouth Medical School.
"I think Dean showed his experience in his plan to implement affirmative action in his government and raise the minimum wage to close the wage gap between men and women," added Jerome Tufte '07, who said he is undecided between Dean and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.
Still, for many, the lack of other mainstream candidates like Kerry and retired General Wesley Clark made it difficult to decide for whom they would vote.
"I wish more candidates had shown up. I think they were turned off by the lack of TV coverage. I still don't know who I'm going to vote for." said Sharon Lindenfeld '05.
