The American Forum: Is Your Vote Up For Grabs?

The American Forum: Is Your Vote Up For Grabs?

Micah Deligdish

What was supposed to be a panel discussion about the participation of young voters in the upcoming midterm elections turned into a bipartisan debate about the current administration last night at American University’s American Forum.

The Forum’s topic was about the recent report published my American University graduate students stating that there has been a decline in young voter’s interest in the upcoming midterm elections. However the panelists only stayed on topic briefly, bringing up their party’s talking points and getting into debates about Obama’s presidency.

The Panelists were Karen Finney, MSNBC political analyst and former communications director for the Democratic National Committee, and Kevin Madden, public relations executive, republican strategist and former press secretary to Governor Mitt Romney's campaign and House minority leader John Boehner. The discussion was moderated by associate professor of communications at American University Jane Hall.

“I’m going to have to be partisan here,” Finney said at least three times during the panel discussion.

The moderator had trouble reeling in the panelists and allowed the discussion to get off topic. At some points her questions provoked the bipartisan debate.

“Do you think the media has been backing Obama?” Hall asked.

Students were frustrated and confused by the outcome of the panel discussion. Many of the students even voiced their opinions on the live Twitter screen being projected about the panelists.

“Instead of focusing on the youth vote, Finney and Madden were more concerned about talking about their own party’s issues with the current administration and past voting,” Keegen Gillette, a sophomore in the school of arts and sciences said. “They should have talked more about why the youth vote is important, not just for their candidates but for society.”

The youth voters who attended the American Forum were able to witness firsthand the shortcomings of bipartisanship in the attempt to discuss the importance of the youth vote in congressional elections.