UD campus ignites for debate

The showdown between Chris Coons and Christine O’Donnell might have drawn national interest, but at the University of Delaware, which hosted the debate, college life proceeded as usual.

“To be honest, I forgot the debate was today,” said Mike Holdridge, a University of Delaware senior and Rehoboth Beach resident. “There’s not much student debate, other than people mocking Christine O’Donnell in class.”

Holdridge said he doesn’t consider himself political, but he’s troubled by the mantra running through O’Donnell’s TV advertisements, where she stares into the camera and says “I’m you.”

“It bothers me,” he said. “It’s not exploring any of her viewpoints. I don’t particularly want the average person in government – I want someone who knows what they’re doing.”

Before the debate, a group of Coons supporters swarmed a lawn on the University of Delaware’s main campus in Newark.

“Christine is not me!” they chanted. Several students waived rainbow flags; one shouted through a bullhorn.

“Glad you could join us!” shouted an O’Donnell supporter, smiling.

“We were looking for a little opposition. Looks like it showed up,” said O’Donnell supporter Skip Neubeck. He said economic issues were his main motivator – “You can’t borrow your way into prosperity,” he said – but he didn’t shy away from calling rainbow flag-waving students “sodomites.”

UD junior Matt Coogan, a Coons supporter, held a sign that read “The Gay Agenda: 1. Equality; 2. See Above.” As leader of the university’s gay student union, he said O’Donnell’s labeling of homosexuality as an identity disorder marginalizes an important and vibrant community.

“We’re here,” he said. “We’re going to make a statement and support that community.”

Jim Valimont stuck out amongst Coons supporters – while most of them were students, Valimont, a Wilmington resident, is 81. He said Coons’ experience as New Castle County executive decided his vote. “The other camp does have a lot of frivolity,” he said as a Burmese mountain dog wearing an O’Donnell T-shirt trotted by, “but these things are too critical. We need someone who can help us move forward.”

The dog, Lilly, belonged to Wilmington resident Diana Lopez.

“She’s a conservative from way back,” Lopez said, adding the dog’s preference for lean economics helped her squeeze into the T-shirt.

When asked if a less burly breed wasn’t a better metaphor for fiscal conservatism – a greyhound, perhaps – Lopez laughed. “Lilly’s all fluff,” she said.

Lopez said O’Donnell is the only choice for conservative voters.

“She’s our only choice,” she said. “Fiscal, social, it doesn’t matter – if you want a conservative person, you have to vote for her.”