T

he Democrat and Republican Clubs at Oakland held their first formal debate where they discussed the Affordable Care Act, drug legality, education reforms, abortion, gun control and welfare reform.

The clubs have met before for informal debates but this was their first formal one. They will be sharing the debate online for anyone who wasn’t able to attend due to class or weather conditions. Before the debate began both sides agreed to keep it civil.

“We probably will try and do one formal debate each semester,” Andrew Baker, chairman of Oakland University Republican club. “A lot of people don’t realize a lot of the politics that go on outside of election years. People always get involved every four years, which is absolutely fantastic, but we want to encourage people to get involved with local elections and all the politics that go on all year round.”

Sara Dadashzadeh, member of the Democrat Club, said that during election year interest really sparks. During elections the club has debate viewing parties and encourages people to vote.

 

Hot Topics

At the debate, the lengthiest disagreements were for abortion, gun control and the Affordable Care Act.

In regards to gun control, the Democrats believed that the government isn’t doing enough to protect the American people against guns. The Republicans believed that there are already laws in place, the problem is enforcement.

“I believe that this country isn’t doing enough to protect its people,” Dadashzadeh said. “I also believe that the 2nd Amendment is a great thing, but I don’t believe it’s a right that should be given blindly.”

Dadashzadeh admitted that gun control was one of the issues that fired her up the most.

“I’m very passionate about politics,” Dadashzadeh said. “I feel like if you have an argument and you can back it logically you should be able to keep going.”

However for Michael Banerian, freshmen at Oakland, the Affordable Care Act is what most fuels his fire.

“I’m very passionate about all the topics, but ObamaCare is very personal to me,” Banerian said. “My dad is a doctor, I’ve seen how it’s affected the medical practice and it’s been hard to watch and not raise hell over it.”

Banerian is no stranger to debating and offers up some advice when dealing with heated topics.

“Present the facts in a very convincing way and try to draw people to your side,” Banerian said. “The minute you lose your cool you lose your credibility.”

The next big event will be on March 7 in Gold Rooms B located in the Oakland Center. They will be bringing in the lieutenant governor to talk to Oakland students, no admission. The group hopes to encourage students to get involved in politics all year round.

“I don’t think a lot of people realize that even if you don’t like politics, politics likes you and it’ll find a way to pry into your life even if you don’t want it to,” Banerian said.