Political discourse is too one-sided
The Cornellian Editorial Board

Last December, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama made a stop at Cornell College in anticipation of the Iowa Caucus. Soon afterwards, fellow presidential contender Governor Bill Richardson (D-N.M.) also made an appearance at Cornell, followed by actress Scarlett Johansson, who campaigned for Obama, and Madeleine Albright for Hillary Clinton. In Cornell’s most recent political event, actors Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore spoke on the Orange Carpet; can you guess which presidential candidate they came to support?
We at The Cornellian are delighted with the many opportunities at Cornell for students to participate in the political process. However, we are disappointed in how one-sided the political discourse on campus has been. Although Cornell’s intellectual discourse has been fairly even-handed, featuring speakers of both left- and right-wing ideologies, there have been exactly zero official campaign events for the Republican party since U.S. Representative Jim Leach was ousted by David Loebsack, former Cornell Professor of Politics, for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. None of the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination visited Cornell before the caucuses, nor have any representatives for the McCain campaign held any events here since John McCain secured his party’s nomination.
Admittedly, this is more likely the fault of the Republican party and the McCain campaign than any bias on the part of Cornell’s administration; Barack Obama’s lead in Iowa is fairly solid at this point in the election, and even former congressman Leach is an Obama supporter. However, it is disappointing that the College Republicans have not done more to promote their candidate. Perhaps they may still do more to educate Cornellians in the few weeks remaining before the election.
Unfortunately, at this point in the election season it seems almost frivolous for the Republican Party to hold any campaign events at Cornell. Barack Obama is up by almost ten points in the Iowa polls, and it would be unreasonable to expect the McCain campaign to waste its resources trying to turn the state. Considering that Iowa went for Bush in 2004, however, it is reasonable to assume that had McCain spent more time here earlier in the season his chances of taking the state would be much better today.
Some would consider it a simple fact of life that secular college and university campuses will always be primarily left-leaning communities. Even so, we at The Cornellian have stated time and again that a proper understanding of opposing viewpoints and ideas is essential to a well-rounded education. It is a moral obligation for academic communities to give voice to political minorities, not only for their sake, but also for the intellectual benefit of every student.