Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. accepted the official nomination as the Republican presidential candidate at their convention in St. Paul, Minn. Thursday night.
Back in the state McCain represents, two Arizona State University students separately watched his speech with great awareness of its significance. Sean Butler, President of the ASU College Republicans, and Erica Pederson, Communications Director for the ASU Young Democrats.
McCain dealt with the issue of America’s economy, acknowledging that these are tough times.
“You’re worried about keeping your job, or finding a new one… [I will] stand on your side and fight for your future,” he said.
According to Butler, McCain’s support for Bush’s tax cuts is “right on the money.” Democratic nominee Barack Obama wants to raise taxes, said Butler, adding that it would hurt Americans families and put their money in government hands.
“You need to look at it from the macro aspect,” Butler said.
Pederson felt that his speech didn’t apply to college students. “He did talk about lowering taxes a little,” she said, but did not regard it as a real solution.
Early on in his speech, the senior senator from Arizona reached out to undecided voters. “I thank you for your consideration and the opportunity to earn your trust. I intend to earn it,” said McCain.
McCain also addressed Barack Obama and the other Democrats watching, saying that “We are fellow Americans, and that’s an association that means more to me than any other.”
“I think [McCain] did a pretty good job of trying to talk to both parties. He did even mention the Obama supporters who were watching,” Pederson said. “But I’m not sure how much I believe him.”
Butler, however, accepted McCain’s words.
“John McCain puts principle above party. He will do what he believes is the right course of action for the right reason,” he said.
He cited John McCain’s years of experience in the military, the House of Representatives and the Senate. “[McCain] knows better than to have no compromise,” Butler said.
America’s dependency on foreign oil was another issue McCain spoke about. “We’re going to stop sending 700 billion dollars a year to countries that don’t like us very much,” he said.
He plans to increase offshore drilling, as well as build more nuclear power plants and the use of environmentally-sound technology like wind and solar power.
Butler supports McCain’s plan to increase drilling. “We need to use what sources we have available. We need to ease our dependence off foreign oil,” he said. “The world runs on oil and we need to tap that resource.”
McCain’s statement that we need “to restore the health of our planet” surprised Pederson.
She said although he mentioned solar and wind power, it sounded like a side note for the future as opposed to more offshore drilling.
Pederson disagreed with McCain’s insistence that “education is the civil rights issue of this century,” not gay and lesbian rights.
“I guess they don’t have any room for [gays and lesbians] in their party,” she said.
As for the now-official race for the Oval Office, both Pederson and Butler have plans for how they were going to move forward.
“Now that everything is final, we can really start getting active” said Pederson. She said the ASU Young Democrats will volunteer for Obama as well as local politicians, such as Ted Maish, a Democrat running for State Senate in Legislative District 20. If Obama sets up an office in Phoenix, the organization plans on collaborating with them.
Butler said the ASU College Republicans are also ready for the next few months.
“This is a historical election. Our very own senator is the Republican nominee for president,” he said. “On [the ASU] campus, we are going to really show who John McCain is… We as college students need to be evaluating what kind of word we want to live in.”
The ASU Young Democrats have regular meetings in COOR 174 at 3 p.m. on Fridays. They also hold “Hardcore Action Meetings” in DISCVRY 150 at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.
The ASU College Republicans meet in DISCVRY 250 at 5:00 p.m. on Thursdays.
