SPYING ON THE OTHER SIDE. Tonight we El Paso County Young Democrats - EPCYD went up the mountains to Teller County, to audit the Teller County Republican Party's debate for CD5 Republican Party candidates. Incumbent Congressman Doug Lamborn did not attend. But all the other Republican candidates for Congress did attend: State Senator Owen Hill, County Commissioner Darryl Glenn, Green Mountain Falls former-mayor Tyler Stevens, and Judge Bill Rhea. This debate was hosted by the Woodland Park High School Forensics team, so the Speech & Debate students themselves wrote several of the questions and asked them in-person to the candidates. Because the students wrote the questions, they dealt with issues important to students and young voters! The students asked, "What's your plan to help solve school shootings?" Darryl Glenn said the federal government should empower States, local school boards, and parents to come up with their own solutions. Owen Hill said we have no time for dialogue, we have to act now, by arming teachers in schools. Other candidates mentioned increased funding for mental health services, and one candidate (Judge Bill Rhea) even said the Sencond Amendment was not under attack in America and he was fine with allowing more restrictions on gun manufacturing and gun sales. The students asked, "How do you plan to get more young people involved in politics?" Darryl Glenn pointed out he had 2 videos up on his YouTube channel about this issue, and kids need to work hard to pay off the debt created by the older generations of Americans. Owen Hill he plans to get young people excited about politics, and young people "are excited about robust American capitalism." Tyler Stevens gave a contradicting answer by saying we'll get young people active in politics by keeping older people in politics to lead and provide an example to emulate in politics. [But then young people can't get into politics because older people are still there in the available seats, so ... how does that work?] An audience member asked the candidates to describe their plan for how to control or even reduce the costs of higher education. Owen Hill said universities should be governed by a free market system, with universities competing for students. Darryl Glenn said directly "It's not my job to help you with that," and ended by saying the best thing a student could do was "get a job" to help pay for college and build character. Judge Bill Rhea joked we should ask Bernie Sanders how he was going to provide free college, then admitted seriously that if Senator Sanders did have a real plan to do it then we should listen to him. Yeah, that happened. With EPCYD Chair Ryan Macoubrie.
