Ball State University students should find a political party tosupport and get more involved in this year's electoral process, thechairman of the Delaware County Democratic Party said during theMulticultural Center's Brown Bag Discussion Thursday afternoon.
"I don't care where you go at in the private sector, or if yougo into the public sector, everything that sets the tone for therest of your life will be decided by an elected official," DennisTyler said.
Tyler and two other local political representatives - EricWyatt, vice chairman of the Delaware County Republican Party, andBrad Klopfenstein, executive director of the Libertarian Party ofIndiana - used the informal lunch discussion to highlight thedifferences among the nation's three major political parties.
"I believe in the party system," Tyler said. "I think it'sextremely important for parties to have a decided difference."
The Democratic Party tackles several issues including theimprovement of roads and streets, as well as police and fireprotection, Tyler said. He said the party also strives to increasethe number of good paying jobs statewide and nationally, which hasdecreased in the past three years.
"Everyone knows there's not a level playing field," Tyler said."It's very important as elected office holders to try to putprograms into place to give everybody the same opportunity tosucceed."
Wyatt said the war on terror is a major topic in the RepublicanParty, where improving intelligence operations, properly arming andtraining troops and expanding democracy to other nations havebecome even more significant goals since the Sept. 11, 2001terrorist attacks.
"Freedom at home and abroad is something that underlieseverything the Republican Party stands for," Wyatt said.
He said the party strives to also retain the tax cuts promisedby the Bush administration and to increase jobs and refuel the workforce. On the local level, the party works to address crime,homelessness, addiction and poverty, Wyatt said.
Klopfenstein said while the Democratic and Republican partiesdisagree on about 98 percent of their platforms, the LibertarianParty's agenda stands apart from both.
"We trust you to make decisions for yourself, and we think youcan make decisions better than politicians can," Klopfensteinsaid.
The Libertarian Party, the nation's third largest politicalparty, participated in half of all Congressional races in 2002 andis running almost 100 candidates in Indiana this year, he said.Without these candidates, he said 20 state legislators wouldn't befacing any opposition in the upcoming election.
"When we can, we will not allow that to happen," Klopfensteinsaid. "We're going to make sure everyone has choices."
Sophomore Devin Day, treasurer of the Black Student Association,said he enjoyed learning more about each political party. "It wasvery interesting and informative because I didn't know very muchabout the candidates and what they stand for," Day said.
Junior Alan Anderson, who plans to vote this year, said heattended the discussion to support the Multicultural Center andhopes more students will get involved in the electoral process byvoting Nov. 2.
"I think it improved my awareness and made me want to go out andbe more aggressive and contribute to the candidate I feel is bestfor the job," Anderson said.
Derick Virgil, director of the Multicultural Center, said abalanced view of the major political parties will allow students tojudge for themselves the best position to take.
"It's important for students to learn more because their vote isvery important," Virgil said.
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