College Democrats President Mary Gibson (CAS ‘05) got a brief taste of the national spotlight when she appeared on Fox News Tuesday night to debate a conservative student leader from Howard University. For roughly six minutes, Gibson and opponent Adam Hunter debated the strengths and weaknesses of the national Democratic primary contenders on “On the Record” with host Greta Van Susteren.
Originally, Gibson was scheduled to be joined by Georgetown College Republicans Chairman David Benjamin, but the Fox network decided to have Hunter on at the last moment instead. “It was Fox’s decision and I suspect that they did it because they were trying to vary the colleges,” Benjamin said.
For Gibson, it was certainly a change from her normal duties as head of the campus Democrats. The appearance with Van Susteren came directly after the conclusion of the Democratic primary debate. U.S Representative and presidential candidate Dick Gephardt preceded Gibson on the show. “It was a little nerve-racking to be up there with all those people who are always on TV,” she confessed with a laugh.
Van Susteren asked Gibson and Hunter their opinions of the nine Democratic contenders. Asked to pick her two top candidates, Gibson said she would go with Kerry and Edwards, but not Dean, because she is “disappointed that he’s not as liberal as everyone says.” She pointed to Dean’s record as Governor of Vermont, but then added that his centrist domestic views could prove useful in a general election against Bush.
Reflecting on the debate, Gibson said that although “no one could really win,” Edwards’ performance, which “should have stood out more,” left her “disappointed.”
Benjamin was not impressed by her attack on the Bush administration’s Patriot Act. “She’s rattling off on the classic old big government, but she’s afraid of the government’s ability to examine one’s library records,” he said. And as for the Democratic candidates, “I think that it’s a pretty weak field and a sad representation of the Democratic Party.”
Gibson said the debate was over in a flash. “I didn’t get to yell at Bush a lot-it went by too fast.” Van Susteren was, in her words, “very nice,” but only had the chance to talk to them personally “in the short span of a commercial break.”
