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Thursday, March 9, 2000 - Page 8 COMMENTARY Republicans McCain and Bush appear on Super two popular late night talk shows Tuesday This past week, both George W. Bush and Matt Hurff looks at the effects He also used these discussions to intro- up the "iron tri- Predictions John McCain made questionable appear- each candidate had during a duce some brief plugs for his universal health ances on late night television. Bush appeared lighter time of their campaign. plan and his goal to break on "Late Night" with David Letterman via angle" of Washington politics as usual. Edward K. Schultheis predicts satellite relay from St. Louis. Needless to say, Bush really did not en- However, neither candidate was as effec- the winners for the upcoming His appearance was meant to prove to dear himself to the crowd. tive as former Nebraska senator Bob Dole's Super Tuesday. Letterman and his viewers that he is not a This could really hurt Bush in the long appearance on "Saturday Night Live" sev- "pinhead," which is a running gag on the run if you think back to the Kennedy-Nixon eral years ago. Too bad for Dole, he appeared While I know that by the time this Letterman show. However, in my mind, Bush debate, where Richard Nixon was ill and was on this late night parody show after his cam- story comes out next week Super Tues- merely reaffirmed Letterman's suspicions. not as appealing on television as John F. paign had already failed to Bill Clinton. day will already have come and gone. I When asked questions, Bush gave short, Kennedy, swaying the vote to Kennedy. Thus During his appearance, he mocked Bob am merely using this as a way of seeing one or two word answers and stared blankly showing that appearance on television is Dole impersonator, Nann McDonald for his if the waves of this week, carryover to into the camera. Meanwhile, the satellite feed highly important in modern political elec- stereotypical impersonation style; a truly hi- the primaries of next week. from St. Louis was a bit slow, making it seem tions. larious sight. Over in the Republican race, Bush and like Bush was contemplating Letterman's How he carries himself on a late night Don't get me wrong, by no stretch of the McCain are battling it out for the questions for quite a bit of time, making him show such as Letterman could have a major imagination do I feel that presidential can- frontrunner status, but after last weeks seem very dim witted. role, in swaying younger voters to his cor- didates should appear on late night sketch bashings in Virginia, and Washington, His attempts at jokes were obviously ner, especially the ones who may only ex- television, nor do I find it totally appropri- Bush has clearly established himself as forced, and not funny, while his one ill-ad- posed to him through such appearances. ate, since it likens them to actors just trying the frontrunner once again. These wins vised attempt at improv aimed at Letterman's McCain on the other hand, faired better to promote their new movies in order to earn came in the wake of Senator McCain's recent heart surgery, was met with boos by on "Tonight" with Jay Lena. Lena seemed more money. wins in Arizona and Michigan. the "Late Show" audience (what's so funny much more apt to building up his guest, By far the presidency is much more im- It has been hard for either Republi- about heart surgery?). rather than mockery like Letterman. This was portant than a film, despite the fact that many can to actua!ly gain the necessary mo- That sounds like a line from Jerry apparent in Lena's introduction of McCain, of the happenings in the White House could mentum to actually make a move on the Seinfeld. "I mean really, what's the deal with in which he called him" Arizona senator and be made into a film, but that is beside the delegates who are holding the primaries cancer?" Seinfeld didn't receive much ap- a war hero." point. in the balance. Ipredict Bush to win the praise from his fake television audience on McCain was very smooth, chatting with If a candidate feels so inclined to make majority of the primaries on Super Tues- that one either. actress Neve Campbell while discussing such an appearance on such shows however, day. Near the end of the interview with Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura and his they better make the best of it, loosen up, On the Democratic Letterman, Bush held up a 'It-shirt he created lucky shoes which put him over the top in and be somewhat funny. Otherwise, you may . has had a commanding end, since Gore lead for most of for the host which had "Dweebs for Bush" New Hampshire (I guess he wasn't wearing look like George W. Bush. the race, I predict him to win the major- inscribed on it. them in the subsequent primaries). it of the rimaries. John McCain: The right man at the wrong time Eight years ago. Bill Clinton won the Chris Anastasia examines the tional spotlight with his message of fixing Their is only one problem with this idea. You presidency' from incumbent George Bush by reasons why McCain is not the the problems of government and taking the have {Q win your perry's nomination first. supporting a moderate platform that focused man for this election. big money interests out of Washington. In his campaign so far, McCain has upon fixing national problems like the McCain has gained a majority of support shown his moderate side and thus is losing economy, poor schools, and raising unem- to even pick a nominee. Most conservative from independents who are disillusioned support to Bush among Conservative Repub- ployment. party members favor Texas Governor George with the political process. He has also gained licans. Since these conservative voters will Clinton rode a wave of change all the way W. Bush. Bush has been the projected nomi- support from Democrats who want a change in fact decide the, nomination, McCain will to the White House and won re-election in nee since he announced his intentions to run, from the scandal-ridden Clinton years. need to gain these votes to earn the nomina- 1996. Now, with the 2000 elections loom- due mostly to his likability and charisma that If this were the General Election, McCain tion. ing, a different situation has occurred. The he has shown in Texas, along with his obvi- would be running a dream campaign. With On the other hand. the Independents and U.S. is in the best shape it has been in for ous name recognition to the party faithful. a good economy and a lack of social prob- Democrats that McCain has garnered sup- quite some time. The economy is at an all- It seemed that Bush would have the nomi- lems, McCain's focus on removing special port from will be necessary for whomever time high while crime and unemployment nation with no trouble at all, but then along interests from lawmaking will be a key cam- the Republicans nominate if they are 10 win are at their lowest levels in decades. This sets came McCain. paign issue. His moderate stance, like the in November. So, in a hope to select their the stage for campaign 2000, in which the John McCain, Arizona senator and one one held by Clinton eight years ago will favorite in George Bush, Republicans may Republican Party has a fight on their hands of the few major politicians to favor cam- prove to be beneficial to gaining across in the end cost themselves the election by not only to beat Vice President A! Gore, but paign finance reform, has shot into the na- party-lines support in a General Election. not backing the majority's choice. Quirks: "Talk" with Robert broadened horizons Anyone who knows me probably knows Anne Butler discusses her "chat" I'm not sure I'd ever been happier about not "foreign." that I'm a huge fan of Japanese animation with a deaf man, and her pride in attending a school that is so "in touch" with I wonder if the proponents of that argu- (anime). Heck, I'm president of the anime the ASL program. the hearing-impaired. ment have ever watched deaf people com- club (CATS) here on campus. Recently, Ihad Now that I think about it, however, I'm municate with ASL? a chance to attend a three day convention of ing. He didn't read lips much because he got sure we're that in touch at all. It certainly seems as foreign to my ex- anime fans in Virginia (it was called felt he wanted people to deal with his deaf- Sure we do have the decades old deaf perience as two people speaking Spanish Katsucon). ness on his terms. education program, but that's really only for does. I had a lot of great experiences at He did have a notebook that we passed graduate students. Knowing ASL is also a highly useful Katsucon, but the one that stands out most messages back and forth with. And yeah, we do offer several levels of skill, just look at me, even with the few signs in my mind was meeting Robert. Now because I worked in the computer American Sign Language (ASL), but it I knew, I was able to'hold a conversation with See, some of us fans met each other and lab and often have to help the deaf students doesn't count for anything. not even a for- Robert. decided to go to McDonald's. There I first Ilearned a few signs from a friend, Penelope. eign language. Who knows what we could have dis- talked with and got to know Robert. Er, well, I doubt the majority of students know cussed if I had taken a semester of ASL? Iguess talked is not the right word. You see, Even the few signs I knew helped im- any sign language. Even with as little as I Are we going to squander one of the great Robert is deaf. mensely and allowed our exchange to flow know, I think I'm in the minority. things about this college by not allowing While I always knew it was technically more freely. Still, if ASL actually counted for some- more people to learn about deaf culture? possible for there to be a deaf anime fan, I Why am I telling you this? thing then probably more students should Was I wrong to be proud WMC during never knew that some actually existed. Well, Robert was surprised that I knew take it. my dialog with Robert? Thus, Iwas surprised to meet Robert and any sign language. Indeed, he told me that It's now only an elective and most people Should I instead have felt shame about learn that being a deaf anime fan is actually often many people don't even know exist- have to set it aside in order to take some other how we're preventing the hearing students pretty feasible. ence of deaf culture at all (which has been BLAR. from learning from the deaf ones? After all, a whole lot of anime is subtitled echoed by others). A Deaf Studies minor is being formed, I actually do feel shame about the oppor- and there would be no problems reading I felt a surge of pride that I went to a but I don't think that's enough. We need to tunities we're wasting. I wonder if those who manga (the comics anime is often based on), school that had allowed me to learn my few let ASL fiJI the language BLAR. oppose ASL as a BLAR aren't the real deaf so one does not lose out on much of the ac- signs so readily, and I proudly told him of It's as complex as Spanish or any of the ones. Maybe if they had an encounter like I tual anime. our college's thirty-year-old deaf education other languages. But the argument is that it did then these people would, for the first Talking with Robert did take a little do- program. cannot fulfill the requirement because it is time, begin to truly hear.