Three Republican congressional candidates attended an open debate forum at Plymouth State University on Mon. April 7 in Heritage Commons. Grant Bosse, Jennifer Horn and Jim Steiner expressed their standpoints as Republican congressmen for New Hampshire’s second district.
After a thirty-minute delay caused by a fire alarm resulting from burnt food in Samuel Reed Hall, the congressional debate began with opening remarks from each candidate briefly regarding their standpoint on national issues. Following the opening remarks, four prepared questions were asked, allowing each candidate to respond, followed by three questions from the audience.
The first question attacked each candidate’s opinion on one of the biggest issues in government today. Grant Bosse spoke first dictating that national defense against “Islamic Fascism” was his biggest concern, with the American economy following closely. According to Jim Steiner, “The most significant obligation is a duty to provide safety to all Americans.”
The costs of higher education were also discussed.
“We need to create greater access to scholarships and grants,” said Jennifer Horn on the subject of New Hampshire University System costs. She said that there isn’t a way to directly decrease the cost of tuition but that to stabilize the economy is to stabilize the cost of education. The two other candidates agreed; none of them spoke towards lowering the cost of schooling, but rather sustaining a steady market, “College is expensive because it’s worth it,” said Bosse.
On the subject of foreign intervention policies and the state of Iraq, all three candidates held the same perspective that the situations should be handled on an individual basis, “Don’t take action that will lead us back to Iraq,” said Horn. A three-way consensus confirmed that the economy is the primary issue facing New Hampshire today. Bosse and Steiner both advocated new construction of energy; building power plants and drilling for more oil. They agreed that New Hampshire should build refineries to reduce the cost of transporting oil refined in other states. Horn expressed interest in limiting government spending and cutting taxes to stimulate New Hampshire’s economy.
Trevor Chandler, Student Body President of Plymouth State, began the audience questions. He asked about the imbalance of federal power between the legislative and executive branches, and how that reflects the War in Iraq. All three candidates negated his claim of an imbalance in legislative and executive power.
Curtis Roddy questioned the candidates’ respective standpoints on Bush’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ legislation, and how the candidates might recruit more teachers in New Hampshire. Both Horn and Steiner advocated merit pay, which makes for a more appealing salary for teachers. They also agreed that the government should only pass mandates that it can fully fund, unlike a mere maximum of 40% on ‘No Child Left Behind,’ “I’m not a fan of measuring the success of a school by the mean of the most challenged and most accomplished students,” said Horn.
Grant Bosse approached a different aspect of this question, “Schools are too important to be handled at a federal level,” said Bosse, which means he is against any federal mandate that nationalizes education. He said that parents should be making these decisions at a local level.
Finally the topic of Social Security was raised. According to Bosse, “In nine years, Social Security won’t bring in more than it pays out.” He proposed a rough plan for future generations where half of an individual’s Social Security will directly deposit into a personal savings with compound interest, and the other half into a federal plan.
“I can’t support anything that forces people to wait longer for benefits…or decreases the amount paid out,” said Horn, but without any resolve to the situation.Steiner concluded, “It’s belt-tightening that should have been focused on… There will be some tough transition costs.”
The candidates are running for position of Congressman for New Hampshire’s second District, a historically and dominantly Republican position, though currently held by Democratic Congressman Paul Hodes. All three campaigns are currently touring the state, some having started as early as February continuing through until September and traveling seven days a week.The Heritage Commons forum was coordinated by Dustin Siggins, a member of Student Senate and Derek Birch, Graduate Representative of Student Senate, while Trevor Chandler raised the funds for refreshments.
“I did this for education,” Siggins said, who aspired to inform students about political happenings in New Hampshire. He projected about 40-60 attendees including the candidates and their campaigns, but only a hand-full showed up excluding the Republican congressional candidates.