One of the things that was really amazing from this past Wednesday’s debate were the questions the students asked the Pennsylvania 13 primary candidates. Moderator Larry Kane allowed 4 students to ask a candidate a specific question and then allowed the students to ask questions for the whole entire panel. The high school students asked the candidates about expanding Medicare and Medicaid, raising the minimum wage, our incarceration system, equal pay for women, gay and transgender rights issues and about the Willow Grove Air Force Base being used as a drone center.
While covering this race for the past six months, going to town hall meetings with candidates and going to debates, this was the first time that this came up in detail. The Willow Grove Air Force Base was touched upon in an earlier candidate forum with all 6 candidates, but the question the Upper Moreland High School student asked was brilliant. The student brought up the fact that there were demonstrations at the base on this issue and asked if the candidates would support using drones as a means to war.
Marjorie Margolies took a non-committal “you have to trust us” approach to it and Brendan Boyle took a war hawkish stance, stating that he supports using drones in foreign countries. State Senator Daylin Leach and Val Arkoosh both came out against the use of drones.
Here’s the audio from the debate…
