The Minaret would like to formally endorse Stephanie Dutka and Daniel Davis for president and vice president of Student Government. As is our policy, the endorsement comes as a result of a secret ballot taken among the editorial board of the staff.
Making their decision, many of our staff members expressed regret that they had to base it solely off one speech from each candidate, along with a few background questions and answers that are posted on our website.
Without a prolonged campaign season, even one of a few weeks featuring a debate or two, we felt that a disproportionate amount of our decision making had to be based off of the speeches of the candidates. While several staff members do know and respect the leadership of both Dutka and Learned, they felt that more than a speech would be necessary to really bring out the differences in style and philosophy of leadership, as well as programmatic distinctions.
As it is, many staff members ended up preferring Dutka to Learned. Dutka’s speech was elegant and straightforward, emphasizing her experience and dedication; many in the staff found it sincere, based on her past leadership and interaction with The Minaret.
In contrast, the same staff members were taken aback by Learned’s approach in the speech. While most staffers took his passionate approach as sincere, we largely found his rhetoric to be unnecessarily combative, detrimental to the spirit of the election, and at times bordering on ad hominem attack.
For example, to claim that SG has been marked by “sheer cowardice of leadership” this past year, aside from implicating himself for complicity, lacks the class that we’ve come to expect from our SG president.
Direct shots at the opponent, such as implying that Dutka has been consciously stalling changes to SG’s constitution or actively supported the controversial alcohol policies were viewed as distasteful by most staffers.
Already disenchanted by the counterproductive mudslinging that has begun to characterize the current national presidential race, Minaret staffers were disillusioned to see similar tactics introduced to our own election process, which in past years has been marked by a commendable degree of professionalism.
In our opinion, this is one area where the amateurs should not learn from the professionals. In the professional arena, just this week, the mudslinging seems to have hit a new low, as the photo that surfaced on the Drudge Report of Barack Obama in Islamic garb during a 2006 trip to Kenya. If the Drudge Report’s assertion that a Clinton staffer was behind the photo’s surfacing is true, it represents not only a contemptible nadir in the Clinton campaign’s ethics, and indeed a desperate maneuver that betrays its increasing lack of confidence, but above all a racist willingness to rely on xenophobia to rally support.
Obviously nothing in Learned’s speech was anywhere near this level of mudslinging, but in such a national political atmosphere of low-blows and backdoor maneuvering, many at UT have come to enjoy our own example of dignity and mutual respect.
Dutka, in contrast to Learned, really carried forth that cherished example in this year’s short campaign season, consisting mainly of her speech before the General Assembly. With no reservations, we are thrilled to endorse Dutka and Davis for the 2008-2009 SG ticket.