YouTube Debate Highlights Differences between Grand Valley State University and Allendale, Michigan

I have the unique situation in which I attend a highly liberal college smack dab in the middle of an overly conservative farm town. Issues brought up in the CNN YouTube Democratic party debate highlight the differences between my college, Grand Valley State University, and the town of Allendale, MI.

One main issue that tears apart the balance between these two communities living in one town is the war in Iraq. Many students believe, somewhat irrationally, that we should pull the troops now. They feel we have stayed too long, and that the best solution is to yank the troops out. The view of the conservative town, mentioned by some of the Democrats during the debate (including Barack Obama), is that a slow removal of troops is best -- the idea being that we cannot just pull the troops from the country, leaving it in shambles. Obama brought up a good point, however, that the cooperation with the current Iraqi government is not so "hot", noting the three week hiatus the legislature took because of the heat in Baghdad.

"Well, let me tell you: It is hot for American troops who are over there with 100 pounds worth of gear," Obama said during the debate, highlighting his belief that a withdrawal needs to begin soon. Hilary Clinton noted that the troops should be removed as safely as possible, "but we want to do so safely, and orderly and carefully."

The other main issue that shows glaring dissimilarity is the debate on gay marriage and civil unions. The conservatives in the town have shown to generally be against gay marriage. Many liberals in the town, however, match the majority of those in the debate, that a Civil Union is the best solution to the problem.

Governor Bill Richardson stated that "what I think is achievable is full civil unions with full marriage right", highlighting the same general feeling of both Obama and Clinton. Most candidates support civil marriages as a way to ensure that gay couples receive the same equality that straight couples do as far as government recognized rights. While many fall short of giving the unions the title of marriage, the main idea is to allow them the same rights, as Obama listed, such as "the rights of people to transfer property, to have hospital visitation, all those critical civil rights that are conferred by our government."

Living in a town divided equally between conservatives and liberals, it was interesting to see how on some subjects, the democrats in the YouTube debates supported the liberal side. Sometimes, however, they found similar cause with the conservatives of the town, showing their impressive wide range in the town.