By Wade Keller, Torch editor

PWTorch.com reader Aaron Stege of Lincoln, NE watched the 90 minute debate last night between Mick Foley and John Bradshaw Layfield, a debate carried on ABC News Now, a relatively obscure digital cable channel. Here is his detailed report...

I just got done watching the WWE Smackdown Your Vote! Youth Debate. The 90 minutes seemed to just fly by, and the spontaneity and humor made it very interesting to watch. Here's a quick rundown:

The show opens with Stephanie McMahon giving a quick preview of the debate. She then turns it over to ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper, the moderator. The debate is split into three parts.

Mick Foley (photo by Wade Keller, PWTorch.com)

Part 1: A WWE superstar and University of Miami student team up and tackle their candidates issues.� Alex Acosta & JBL represent Republicans, while Mick Foley and Tiffany Yelder represent the Democrats. Topics included student aid, the future of the economy, and leadership in Iraq. JBL steals (admittedly) Foley's chance for a cheap pop by mentioning the Hurricanes. In regards to the economy, Team JBL brings up that

Bush has created 1.7 million jobs in the last year. Team Foley counters by saying there is still a net loss in jobs over Bush's term in office. Team Foley also brings up that high-paying jobs were lost, and lower-paying jobs were created. There is a huge round of applause after Foley states that the Republicans use 9-11 to justify everything they do, like making tax cuts while increasing spending. Team JBL says that the only Democratic policy is criticism of Republican policy. They also say that deficit spending by FDR is what got America out of debt during his terms. Team Foley says Bush needs to do a better job of looking after families living paycheck to paycheck. The inevitable topic of Vietnam records are brought up in regards to leadership in Iraq. Nothing we haven't heard before. For some reason , JBL uses this topic to go off on Michael Moore, and criticizes the Democratic Party for not having exciting candidate to offer anymore. Team JBL says only Bush has a plan for Iraq, but Team Foley counters by saying Bush is weighing the success of his Presidency on how well he does a war. The "No Child Left Behind" Act is brought up many times during the topic of student aid. Team Foley criticize Bush for not fully supporting it, and Team JBL bring up that Bush at least has a plan. JBL says Kerry didn't bring up a single significant piece of legislation during his entire Senate term. Team JBL brings up that Bush has raised the maximum Pekll Grant available to college students, but Team Foley brings up that he's still fallen way short of what he said we'd be at (Bush said we'd be at $5100, while the current maximum is only $4050).

Part 2: Florida legislators join the debate and make it a six-man tag. Democratic State Senator Dave Aaronberg joins Team Foley, while State Representative Marcelo Larente joins Team JBL. In this section, people on opposite teams ask the Florida legislators questions. JBL asks Aaronberg if he agrees that we should have gone into Iraq knowing what we know now. Aaronberg said that we should be going after Al Queda, not Iraq, and that we should have gotten at least moral support (if they weren't willing to send troops) from more countries before we went in. Foley asks Larente how will we be able to balance the deficit when the proposed privatization of Social Security will cost us billions. Larente kind of skirts the issue of Social Security privatization (he just says that it's something we all should want) and does the generic Republican answer that by making tax cuts, we jumpstart the economy, and a strong economy will win out in the long run. Then JBL's second, Alex, is offered the chance to ask a question, and says he doesn't have one (boy, that made him look bad). Foley's second, Tiffany, asks Larente why, since Bush puts such a big emphasis on honor, does he support the Patriot Act, which does the dishonorable thing of "trouncing upon citizens" because they look different. Larente said this is a special time, and national security must take priority to individual rights. Then Alex gets another chance to ask his question, and asks Aaronberg something about trial lawyers, which I didn't understand because I didn't even realize it was an issue. Sorry, trial lawyer debate fans.

Part 3: It's an all out battle royal as the audience gets in on the action. In this section, students in the audience ask each side questions. The first question was directed at Team JBL. The student asked why we don't know where Bush stands on every issue, considering he's the incumbent. JBL insults the student for asking such a long question, eliciting boos. He responds with "Hey, I'm a bad guy!" Representative Larente gives specific examples of Bush policy, and Foley calls him boring. Foley says Bush has a "Suck It Presidency." He says that just like the DX "Suck It" chants, the Bush catchphrases, which distract from the issues, will eventually grow old, but by that time, it may be too late to fix the problems. Another student asks JBL's second Alex about the deficit, and once again we get the generic Republican response that tax breaks strengthen the economy, yadda, yadda, yadda. He says FDR increased spending but no one cared then. Team Foley counters that at least FDR increased taxes, as opposed to Bush cutting them, when he increased spending. Senator Aaronberg said Bush is bringing back the failed "Trickle Down" theory from the Reagan era. Next, a student asks Foley how a new voter, like herself, can know what to trust with all the spin. Foley says we need to get our news from as many sources as possible. He says he knows that catching up on news isn't the most fun thing to do, but it is our responsibility as voters to keep ourselves informed. JBL says that we need to do our own research on the candidates, that we can't trust what we see in the news and what we'll see at the debate Thursday. He says that if you always vote Democrat or always vote Republican, you're an idiot. You need to vote for a candidate, not for a party, based on what their specific policies and ideas mean to you. I gotta give it up to JBL on that one. A student questions JBL on the news reports that having Bush in office breeds hate and makes it easier for Al Queda to recruit people. JBL basically calls her an idiot if she believes that, and says that the "news reports" are just a big conspiracy theory. Foley says that as long as Bush is occupied with Iraq, Al Queda has the opportunity to regroup and strengthen. Finally, a student asks a question that's not specifically anti-Republican (bit of a biased crowd), wondering why Democrats were trying to keep Ralph Nader off the ballot. Foley says Nader has good points but there are more bigger issues right now than a third party. JBL calls Nader an idiot (literally), and says that Kerry doesn't have to worry about Nader blowing the election, because Kerry will do it himself.

Sudden death, one fall to a finish.� Final question: Young people are turned off by artificiality of politics. What straightforward answer do you want to hear at the debate tomorrow? Each of the six debaters are given a chance to answer. Tiffany wants to know a specific number about American casualties in Iraq. Alex wants to know how the candidates can inspire us to be better citizens. Aaronberg wants to know specifically how Bush is going to tackle the budget, and how Kerry would fix the mess he'd be inheriting. Larente wants to hear Kerry tell us specific ideas he has for America. Foley wants to know why Bush wants to silence people that have dissenting opinions to his, since this is an open democracy. He wants unrehearsed thoughts, not memorized speeches. JBL wants to know why Kerry should be elected President if he doesn't stand for anything specific. Then, Steph came back and stresses that we need to vote in order to make a difference. 18-30 is 22% of voting public. We aren't the future of America, we ARE America.

Overall, it was a very impressive debate. The fact that it was a more relaxed debate gave it a more "real" feel. Both sides had some good points, but the fact that the crowd had an obvious Democratic bias skewed it a little to Team Foley's strengths. The WWE Superstars came out looking great. JBL and Foley were both very articulate and well-informed. The Democratic Senator came out looking good, too, but the Republican Representative came out looking like a Republican mouthpiece, just spouting out the standard answers. Foley even called him out on this.

Best debaters:

1. Mick Foley
2. JBL
3. Dave Aaronberg
4. Alex Acosta
5. Tiffany Yelder
6. Marcelo Larente

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