Poli Sci professors describe 'gulf' between parties

The political science department opened a forum to talk about domestic issues in the upcoming election Monday night in Woodburn Hall 101.\nProfessors Michael Ensley, Edward Carmines and Marjorie Hershey gave prepared speeches about their areas of interest and study, and answered students' questions concerning each candidate's policy proposals.\nStudents gathered outside the door even before the forum opened, already with issues in mind they hoped the speakers would address. \n"I'm hoping they'll talk about the domestic impact of both candidates because I can't get a straight answer from either," said freshman Stormie Foust. \nTo help students get in touch with the issues, the speakers each had five minutes to talk about an issue they had researched, beginning with Ensley. He started off the forum by talking about "the Kerry campaign strategy," questioning why Kerry may have chosen to focus less on domestic issues, which Ensley called his "decided advantage," and instead chose to pursue a campaign focusing on foreign policy and character establishment. \nWhile he said the audience was more likely to come away with more questions than answers, he did offer a number of reasons why he believed Kerry used this campaign strategy. Ensley cited the loss of the 2000 election and the nature of the electoral college as reasons why. \nHershey began her portion of the forum by bringing up what she called "fact questions." When asked questions like whether the United States had discovered weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, she said Democrats tended to say "no" and Republicans "yes," even though reports had been released in order to conclusively answer the question. \nThe thesis to her argument, however, was that "People do not have to accept the results of an election." She predicted hundreds of lawsuits will crop up after the election, and that it "will not be over when it's over."\nCarmine also recalled the 2000 campaign as part of his speech, and agreed with Hershey about the outcome. "Whichever candidate wins we're going to have stalemate. Gridlock. We'll come out of this election much the way we came out of the last election -- strongly divided." \nHershey agrees there is a "gulf between the two parties," citing environmental policies as one topic on which they vastly disagree.\nThe political science department will continue to host programs like these. A dialogue on global issues will be held tonight in Jordan Hall. \n"I'm also hoping to feature the expertise of the political science department and create a forum for our faculty to be a resource for the public at large," said professor Jeff Isaac, who coordinated and moderated the event.\n-- Contact staff writer Janice Neaveill at jneaveil@indiana.edu.