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Vice President Biden garners votes
at UNC Asheville’s Justice Center
Jackie Starkey
jstarkey@unca.edu
News Editor
Vice President Joe Biden called for
western North Carolina voters to take
a democratic stand on education poli
cies and job market growth in the up-
i coining 2012 general election at a UNC
Asheville campaign event.
■‘If we win North Carolina, we wm,”
Biden said in his speech.
Biden brought the Democratic cam
paign to North Carolina on Oct. 2. the
eve of the first presidential debate, stop
ping at UNCA’s Justice Center to rally
the western part of the state.
North Carolma is one of nine swing
states in the upcoming election, accord
ing to political tracking experts, making
it a battleground for both political par
ties as they attempt to generate enough
interest to win the state’s 15 electoral
votes.
“it is not an exaggeration to suggest
that the country faces the starkest choice
for president in my memory,” Biden
said.
Biden said the differences in the .so
cial policies of the two parties have nev
er been greater, and if allowed to win,
the Republican party’s platform would
have a profound impact, especially in
regard to women and minority groups.
“There is no American to whom this
selection matters more, than to all you
voters on the fence, “ Biden said.
Biden was Joined in Asheville by fel
low Democrats North Carolina Lt. Gov.
Walter Dalton, who is running for gov
ernor in upcoming state election, and
11th Congressional District Representa
tive Heath Shuler.
Together, the Democrats hoped to ral
ly support for their party and turn North
Carolina, a state with a long history of
voting Republican, blue in the Nov. 6
presidential election.
Dimng his visit to campus, the vice
president focused on issues concerning
young and first time voters, as well as
the importance of strengthening our na
tion’s education system and highlight
ing Obama’s plans to make college edu
cation more affordable for our middle
class.
“Children tend to become that vvhich
we expect of them. We expect a lot of
them,” Biden said.
Cutting teachers in our primary and
secondary education system needs to be
halted, Biden said.
“For Romney and Ryan, public edu
cation acts literally as an after thought,”
Biden said. “Romney and Ryan plan
massive cuts to education, .$4.9 mil
lion,”
Furthermore, Biden said the Repub
lican Party planned to take away lax
cuts for families with stodents away at
school, making higher-level education
harder on the middle clajis and increas
ing the debt of graduating seniors,
“Me. Michelle and Barack know none
of us would be where we are today;
none jof us would be standing before
any of-you had it not been for loans,”
Biden said.
Biden said though student loan debt
has reached an all-time high, the Obama
administration has plans to make cur
rent debt more manageable by intro
ducing %he Student Loan Forgiveness
Act, which would make payments on
students loans exceed no more than 10
percent Of a person’s disposable income
per year.
Additionally, Biden said Democrats
have spent the last four years trying to
prevent iexcessive debt among college
students by increasing federal aid to
those in peed.
“We increased the number of stu
dents oncollege on Pell Grants from six
million to nine million,” Biden said.
Biden said the Republican Party’s
plans Tor cuts to education would fur-
see BIDEN on