Former presidential candidate and Reagan-era domestic policy advisor Gary Bauer gave a town hall-style speech to a gathering of about 75 community members Wednesday night in the Bryan Center. Bauer drew on the recent flurry of campus discussion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his speech on the topic.
An evangelical Christian and a staunch right-wing political activist, Bauer spent much of his 90-minute talk on combating anti-Semitism at home and abroad. "I have been shocked at how quickly this guttural anti-Semitism went from being the possession of the fevered brows of skinheads to being embraced by cultural elites throughout Europe and here in the United States," he said, noting on campus events to contextualize his argument.
Citing a range of leaders from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to "certain officials" in the state department, he compared their tolerance of violent Palestinian resistance tactics to the "pornography" seen in the attacks themselves. "It's obscene," he said of the suicide bombings in Israel. "You see body parts being scraped off the street."
Bauer mildly criticized President George W. Bush for his middle-of-the-road, two-state solution to the ancient Israeli-Palestinian conflict, calling for a harder stance.
He cautioned, however, about what would happen if Bush does not beat Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., Nov. 2. "Mark my words," he said. "If Kerry wins, the same people and countries that celebrated the death of 3,000 people in the World Trade Center will be celebrating again."
Allowing the spread of terrorism, both domestically and abroad, could inadvertently lead to the demise of United States" role as a global superpower, he said, citing the former Soviet Union as an example of how quickly a militarily powerful country can fall.
Emphatic in his verbiage and pausing occasionally for effect, Bauer admitted that some of his more "radical" statements may have "stepped on a few toes."
Audience members, however, responded to his whole talk with a general enthusiasm. Sophomore Jessica Peterson said she felt Bauer was an effective and engaging speaker, despite her disagreements with his views.
"I really appreciate the fact that he's here and is very dedicated to his opinions," she said. "Certainly on a campus like Duke, especially lately, when people are so wishy-washy and not ready to pick sides, it's refreshing to hear a strong opinion."
Junior Adam Yoffie, president of the Duke Friends of Israel and the host of the event, agreed that hearing an ideologically strong viewpoint is important at this time of year. "Obviously as politicians, we like the idea that the speech came right before the election, especially because of the heightened importance of foreign policy issues," he said.
Duke Friends of Israel, the Duke Conservative Union and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies booked Bauer to speak on foreign policy more than a year ago.
Even with the solemnity of the topic at hand, Bauer found time for a little humor. "There is an elephant in the room, and his name is Messiah," joked Bauer about reconciling his own evangelicalism with his strong support for Judaism. "When he gets over here, we'll just ask him whether this is his first or second visit."
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