Elizabeth Warren promises to fight pollution, inequality in town hall at UNH

Sen. Elizabeth Warren discusses her ideas during the town hall meeting on Wednesday, October 30 2019 in Durham, NH

Matteo Venieri
venam@bu.edu

BOSTON – Climate change, corruption in the nation’s capital and “Medicare for all” were among the most critical arguments discussed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren during her town hall meeting at the University of New Hampshire on Wednesday. More than 600 people attended the event, Warren’s 151^st town hall this year.

Warren opened the event talking to the audience about her path to the candidacy, from her mother’s struggles to save their house from foreclosure to her days as a teacher for kids with special needs. The Massachusetts senator went on addressing the three most important points of her presidential campaign, which included making structural changes in the economy, protecting democracy from foreign countries and attacking corruption in Washington D.C. with “the biggest anti-corruption plan since Watergate.”

Climate change was a very important topic for many in the crowd, including UNH sophomore student Paul Pollaro, who waited in line in the halls of the Memorial Union building from early morning to secure a spot inside the Granite State Auditorium. As a Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems major, he was mostly focused on Warren’s plan to protect the planet.

“To me, this is the lead point to ultimately decide who I’m going to vote for,” said Pollaro. “Climate change directly affects us and our future. To me, it doesn’t matter what the plan is, how much it costs or who proposes it. I just wants to hear who has the plan that is best equipped to gets things done,” he said.

Warren discussed this topic in the early stage of her hour-long event, incorporating it in the first points of her agenda. “You want to understand the climate crisis we face today? It’s 25 years of corruption in Washington that brought us here,” she said. She added that she intends to fight back with “the biggest anti-corruption plan since Watergate,” earning one of the loudest ovations of the day from the crowd.

Although she didn’t specifically mentioned it in her speech, the senator addressed the delicate topic of “Medicare for all” during the Q&A session with the audience. Retired school teacher Maxine Bellew, 75, had the chance to ask her directly the specifics of the healthcare reform.

In response, Warren told the story of several people she met at other events who confessed that they were happy with their private health insurance, but only until they contracted life-threatening diseases that left them with six-digit bills to pay. Warren vowed to fight head on a system she deems unsustainable for too many Americans. The Democratic candidate didn’t elaborate more in detail, although she promised that under her reform no one would get crushed by medical bills any longer.

After the event, asked whether or not she was satisfied with the answer she received, Bellew responded that, for the moment, it was enough. “I think it was as much as it would be expected,” she said. “When she gets nominated, the plan will have to be more specific. But I’m cool with it for now: my main focus is defeating Trump, without a doubt. I think she’s head and shoulders the best candidate.”

Two days later, Warren revealed her plan on how to pay for “Medicare for all,” which would cost about $52 trillion over the next decade, with $20.5 trillion of new federal spending, according to her website.

Warren’s presence on UNH campus was neither the first of 2019 nor coincidental, as the sought-after student vote is now more crucial than ever. A study from Tufts University revealed that for the 2016 elections the student turnout increased by more than three points, from 45.1% in 2012 to 48.3% in 2016. Warren’s plan for free college could help her gain traction among the students like those who participated in the event.

Freshmen Ella Franzoni and Phoebe Mulry, attending their first event with the senator, strongly believed in Warren’s proposed tax for the wealthy, whom they believe should have an obligation to pay more taxes, especially if this will contribute to the cancelation of student debt for up to 95% of American students. Warren’s proposed reform would call for a 2% tax on each dollar owned above $50 million.

The two students consider this policy a decisive factor for many UNH students and the main reason for Warren’s popularity among their peers. “From what I’ve experienced and the people I’ve talked to,” said Franzoni, “the majority of the time people say that they’re very invested in Warren. She’s the name that I’ve heard the most since I’ve been in New Hampshire.”

The latest CNN poll finds that the race for New Hampshire remains wide open, with Warren at 18% trailing Bernie Sanders by three points. Behind the Massachusetts senator, Joe Biden at 15% and Pete Buttigieg at 10% are the only other candidates with double digit support.

CNN reported that Sanders’ lead at 21% is the weakest since at least 1972 for this time of the year before an election. With only 23% of Democratic voters in the state who have already reportedly decided which candidate to vote and the primaries just four months away, the battle for the Granite State is underway, with most candidates scheduled to hold events in New Hampshire this week.