By PAUL GULLY

Special Projects Editor

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain discussed a variety of national and local issues during a town hall meeting on Oakland University’s campus, Wednesday, May 7. The event, which was held in the Shotwell-Gustafson Pavillion, allowed the several hundred in attendance a chance to meet the Arizona senator and an opportunity for both supporters and opposition ask questions.

McCain, who was introduced to a standing ovation, mixed with a smattering of boos, called OU “a wonderful institution” before he began with an opening speech that focused largely on issues that have not been oft discussed during the current presidential race. He focused on what he called “serious issues and challenges that face the nation” — human trafficking, religious freedom, and Internet-related child sex crimes.

The Q&A portion of the event began with a question posed by a 14-year-old female, sporting an anti-McCain T-Shirt, who had interrupted him during his opening speech.

“Town hall meetings are for people who agree, and for people who disagree,” said McCain prior to addressing her question.

For more than an hour, McCain fielded questions ranging in topic from the country’s dependence on foreign oil and the declining value of the U.S. dollar, to the automotive industry, the war in Iraq, and his alleged temper.

McCain made it clear, several times throughout the event, that eliminating U.S. dependency on foreign oil is vital to not only stabilizing the economy, but also to improving the environment. McCain favors nuclear power development.

When asked whether oil is the reason the U.S. is in Iraq, McCain said that the threat of WMDs being used by Saddam Hussein, coupled with the fact that Hussein “was a repressive dictator,” were the reasons he voted for the war.

“[The war] has been badly mishandled for nearly four years,” McCain said, answering a question regarding what he considers the “great debate” of the upcoming election. “But we are succeeding. … As the Iraqi military takes over more responsibility and Americans begin to withdraw, I’ll bring [our troops] home — I’ll bring them home with honor.”

However, McCain does not support setting a date for withdrawal, as Democratic presidential hopefuls Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton have, at risk of ending the war too soon.

“As I said a year ago, I’d rather lose a political campaign than lose a war,” McCain said.

McCain also answered questions pertaining to issues specific to Michigan, including several questions posed about the auto industry. McCain held strong to his advocacy of improved fuel economy standards for automobiles, which opponents claim has hampered the U.S. auto industry.

However, McCain did say that the “automotive industry in this state is not finished” and said he believed it could be revitalized by focusing on new innovation and technology.

“The technology is here … in the great state of Michigan — the birthplace of the automotive industry … But, we’ve got to retrain and reeducate workers to take advantage of the opportunities,” he said.

He also said that he would “never agree to any proposal” to divert water from the Great Lakes to dry states.

“People who live in the Great Lakes states should decide what happens to their water,” McCain said.

Following the event, McCain shook hands and met with audience members.

“I was impressed by what he had to say,” said OU freshman Hawra Abogilal, who is still undecided as to who she will vote for. “I was especially impressed with his comments about the Middle East and standing up for religious freedom.”

“Great” was a word used by David Dulio, a political science professor at OU who brought his class out to the event, when asked about the event.

“This was great for OU. It’s great to have a presidential candidate come here. … It was a great opportunity for my students,” Dulio said. “It was also great for those who disagree with Sen. McCain to come and hear what he had to say. It was great that he took so many questions from those who challenged his viewpoints.”

Jim Arapostathis, a political science major and member of the College Republicans student organization, volunteered at the event, said that while he didn’t agree with everything McCain, he agreed with most of it.

“I wish he would have spent more time attacking Deomocrats, but he spoke well when talking about the war,” said Arapostathis, who’s still undecided as to whether he will vote for McCain. “I made up my mind that I won’t vote for the Democrats — you’d have to hold a gun to my head for that — but I’m still undecided as to whether I’m going to vote for McCain.

John Fich, the father of an OU student, is a Barack Obama supporter, but took time off work to see McCain speak.

“I wanted to come see what he said in person, rather than in the media,” Fich said. “I wanted to get his opinion on the war and economy and the energy crisis.”

Prior to the event, a group of approximately 30 sign-waving protesters demonstrated in front of the venue’s main parking entrance.

“I love the idea of the town hall meeting, but we wanted to show that McCain is not welcomed by everyone here. There’s a significant portion of the student body who doesn’t support him,” said one of the protesters, Michael Westphal, an OU student and head of the school’s chapter of Students for a democratic Society (SdS).

Several of the protesters were also responsible for boos that could be heard multiple times during the event.

 

This was McCain’s first trip to Michigan since the Jan. 15 primary, which he lost to Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

McCain, 71, has had the GOP nomination wrapped up since March 4.

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updated 5/07/08 at 4:31 p.m.