If misinformed observers attended Tuesday night's health care debate between Karl Rove and Howard Dean they may have confused 2009 for a presidential election year.
Such was the atmosphere, as the two political heavyweights debated health care in a crowded Eisenhower Auditorium as part of the Student Programming Association's Distinguished Speaker Series (DSS).
Moderated by DSS committee member Paul Russ and WTAJ news anchor Carolyn Donaldson, the structured debate lasted about an hour with each politician receiving 10 minutes to give an opening statement.
Rove, a Republican party strategist and former adviser to President George W. Bush, and Dean, former governor of Vermont and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, both agreed some form of legislation would be passed in Congress. However,
that is where the similarities ended.
Rove dismissed the widely discussed public option as being part of "a bill financed by gimmicks." He said it would require multiple years of tax increases and "take one-sixth of the American economy and turn it over to the government."
Dean expressed his support for President Obama and the current legislation being debated in congress that would give people the option of choosing a government-backed health care plan and said it would "force insurance companies to treat patients better than they do right now."
Encouraged by the audience with its applause and occasional jeers, Rove and Dean were quick to pounce on the other's platform, as Dean accused Rove of using inaccurate statistics and Rove retorted with, "You just called me a liar and I don't appreciate it."
Although Rove launched into his position on health care from the start of his opening statement, Dean began by encouraging Penn State students to continue to be involved in politics throughout their lives and vote in next week's local elections.
"The hallmark of your generation is cooperation," Dean said. "Politics is organizing human beings to make your country a better place. When the public gives up, the country dies."
Rove and Dean both acknowledged debates, such as the one occurring Tuesday night, can often be misconstrued as spectacles for audience entertainment, but they hope the debate educates people on a complex issue.
However, those in attendance didn't all agree with this assessment.
Mick Kunz, who identified himself as an "angry liberal" left the debate more bewildered by politics than before.
"I thought it was a circus show," Kunz (sophomore-labor studies and employment relations) said. "There are no winners, just varying degrees of loss."
Alex Smith, chairman of the College Republicans, said he believed Rove to be the winner of the debate because he introduced points that Dean failed to address, such as the impending bankruptcy of Medicare.
"I definitely learned some things," Smith said, adding "there was definitely a bit of theater going on, too."
