Although his speech was as informal as it was short, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Michael Coles tried to sell his policies as well as his personality to those listening Tuesday in Room K of the Dean Rusk Hall at the University of Georgia. In an anecdotal speech about his struggles as a businessman, Coles - who is running against Republican incumbent Paul Coverdell for one of Georgia's Senate seats - surrounded his discussion on public education, health maintenance organizations and benefits for military veterans with personal testimony. Coles' speech was a 25-minute, unwritten conversation that showcased more personality than politics, focusing on his business and his family. "The story of being a businessman is that you can't give up," Coles said. "It's like that big plastic punching dummy with sand at the bottom - you punch it, it falls down, and you get back up. And I want to be that kind of senator for Georgia. I want to be like (former) Sen. Sam Nunn and Gov. Zell Miller and let people know that however I vote, I am voting the way I felt." Sounding off on what he called a "partisan divide" over the issue of public education, Coles said that, if elected, he would make public education his top priority. "With 90 percent of children in this country receiving public education, we all should be able to agree that improving our public schools is necessary," he said. Coles said he is in favor of setting national education standards from kindergarten through the fourth grade, and cutting down on the size of classrooms by hiring more teachers. "I don't think that the federal government can play a role in how local and state governments can improve their schools, but there is a role that the federal government can play," he said. Coles said he would also make HMOs responsible by exposing them to lawsuits "to hold them accountable" for miscues in medical treatment. Currently, Coles said, the federal government exempts HMOs from lawsuits. Coles spoke on the importance of giving veterans the benefits promised to them by the federal government, and then blasted Coverdell for his stance on the issue. "My opponent, Paul Coverdell, voted against billions of dollars in pay to those people who served our country," he said. "It is important that we keep that promise to them." Coles was the fourth candidate to speak at the law school this fall. Previous visits were made by Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a Democrat, and his Republican opponent, David Ralston, and Mitch Skandalakis, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor. Coverdell is scheduled to speak at the law school at 4 p.m. Oct. 22. Many of the students who attended Coles' speech and also attended the other three candidate appearances sponsored by the Student Bar Association said Coles was the most personable of the four political candidates to appear. "He was the most loose and easy-going of the candidates," said UGA first-year law student Jeff Dortch. "I was in the military for a few years and he really struck a chord with me about veterans getting their benefits. That was something that myself and the guys I served with always worried about." "He talked about the issues, but he was also selling himself as well," said UGA junior Casey Minton. "He seems like a nice guy." |
