“Presidential Bicker” 2012
Hey politicos, excited for tonight’s presidential debate? Concerned about the future of America? Aware of the huge debate viewing party taking place in Richardson Auditorium with commentary from Anne-Marie Slaughter?
Too swamped with problem sets and midterms to attend?
We at UPC have got your back – tonight we’ve embedded ourselves on both red and blue sides of Richardson Auditorium, and we’ll be liveblogging not just the presidential debate, but Princeton’s live reactions too. We’re on standby for campus verbatim too, so if you’ve got any witty jokes, fact-checking action, overheard commentary or Big Bird jokes, send them our way! Email pressclb@princeton.edu, tweet @UnivPressClub, or post ‘em in the comments. Show us what you’ve got, Princeton.
8:29 PM
Zach Beecher ’13 introduces campus fave Anne-Marie Slaughter. She’s sitting on the Democrats’ side of the auditorium, but chose to dress in classy neutral (black) instead of red or blue tonight. Cheers for her from both sides.
- AYS
8:33 PM
AMS says we’re likely to hear questions pointed at specific foreign policy issues tonight – when are we getting out of Afghanistan? How much support will we show for Israel? What about Iran? Romney and Obama actually don’t disagree dramatically on these questions, Slaughter says. “On the specifics, you’re not likely to hear a big difference.”
8:39 PM
AMS gives bipartisan credit for effective anti-terrorism policy. “I think we can ask Americans on this, ‘How do you feel? Do you feel safer 4 years ago than 10 years ago? I think the answer’s going to be yes.”
8:41 PM
AMS on Clinton’s apology: “She was right to say that and frankly that’s the woman I work for. She had to step up and own it…but president can’t hide behind secretary of state. It would surprise me and be a bad political move to say, ‘Oh yeah, that was Hillary’s fault.’”
- LZ
8:42 PM
Second speaker! AMS wraps up with a shout-out to Hillary Clinton (“She’ll step up and own it”) and final point that there won’t be a huge axis of difference between Obama and Romney, but that Barack will offer a solid debate. Now we’ve got politics and international affairs professor John Londregan on stage. He wasn’t too fond of Romney’s 47% comments or of the left’s depiction of Republicans as “clinging to their guns,” he says. What solution does he offer for those who aren’t huge fans of either candidate this year?
“I am hopeful that in 2024 or 30, in some years, two of you will be competing candidates!” High hopes…
- AYS
8:56 pm
Oh, some commentary on the actual scene here: full house! American flags hanging from the balcony, red and blue balloon arches at the from doors of Richardson, CARDBOARD CUTOUTS of Michelle and Barack for photo ops (was there a Romney one on the other side? I didn’t see) and free foam fingers! There’s a pretty visible chunk of kids wearing red or blue in the front rows, but everyone else behind looks more neutral. In terms of dress, at least. We’ll see how the audience vibe goes when the actual debate starts.
- AYS
8:58 pm
The second speaker is talking for a long time. People are getting antsy… overheard from the Democrat side:
“They should have food for us.”
Also, from the blue crowd as he leaves the stage: “Time to watch Obama whup some ass.”
