Les Roberts, running in New York's 24th district, located in upstate New York, delivered a speech on his humanitarian work in Iraq early in the afternoon and lectured at Dartmouth Medical School afterwards. Former attorney and Dartmouth alumnus Paul Hodes '72, hoping to unseat Republican Charles Bass '74 in a rematch of the 2004 race in New Hampshire's second district, joined Roberts later that night for a fundraiser at the Hanover Inn.
After receiving his doctorate in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University, Roberts began work at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has done work in over 30 nations, eight of which were during wartime.
The New Yorker worked in Iraq and Afghanistan following the American deployments to those nations, and he said that such experiences particularly qualify him to deal with military issues in Congress.
"I think I have a much more sophisticated sense of what war means and what it takes to end war," Roberts said.
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Roberts was critical of President Bush's policies and State of the Union address.
"I think the president did a great job of diagnosing the problems, and I think he came up with all the wrong solutions," Roberts said.
Also, Roberts stated that he feels three issues are particularly pressing at the moment and would receive his attention in Congress: balancing the budget, obtaining health insurance for the uninsured and developing an energy policy not based on fossil fuels.
Roberts' critics, such as Vice President of the College Republicans Aindriu Colgan '08, see the New York Democrat's platform as much more narrow.
"Les Roberts has completely ignored the recent economic recovery and drop in unemployment," Colgan said. "His platform, if one can call two issues that, advocates HillaryCare and more federal funding to the poor."
HillaryCare refers to a health care plan proposed in President Bill Clinton's administration and aggressively supported by Clinton's wife, now New York Senator Hillary Clinton, that would create a government-centric national health care program.
Like Roberts, Hodes was particularly critical of Bush and his administration.
"The president talks tough," Hodes said. "I think that we've seen a lot of empty rhetoric from him."
In his campaign, Hodes has advocated numerous reforms, better enforcement of rules in the House and in lobbying and transparency in the legislative process. Hodes talked specifically about his opinions concerning the American presence in Iraq.
He advocated a quick exit strategy constructed to send a signal to nations in the Middle East that American presence there is not permanent.
As Hodes is a Dartmouth alumnus, and Joshua Lozman '01 heads Roberts's campaign, both candidates hope that their connections with the College will further their candidacy and campaigns in the near future.
