By Shayna Freisleben
A workers compensation lawyer who ran unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for a state assembly seat spoke to about 50 students on Oct. 23 at a meeting booked by the Young Republicans.
Steven Sion, who lost his bid for the 42nd district on Nov. 4, classified himself as a moderate Republican and answered questions for students about the presidential campaign of Republican nominee Sen. John McCain.
Sion decided to become a Republican when he was growing up in Rhode Island and was dismayed by the government control and bureaucracy of the Rhode Island state legislature, he said.
“There was so much regulation in state government that people were unable to break the barriers and cycles of poverty,” Sion said. “I believed that the Democrats didnât have it right.”
The poor public school system and misappropriation of the state budget prompted Sion to run for state assembly. He also ran in the same district in 2006 and lost.
Sion said that the belief in individual power within government is what aligns him with the Republican Party.
“I just saw a lot of handouts and somewhat of a buddy-buddy system in the legislature,” Sion said. “I feel that the Democratic Party is more inclined to be a handout system.”
Sion also clarified student concerns about McCain and his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
“The role of vice president is to be there in case something happens to the president and ready to serve,” he said. “I think thereâs a difference between being ready and qualified, and the more we learn about Sarah Palin, the better we can make that assessment.”
Sion justified why the campaign of Democratic nominee, now President-elect, Barack Obama would not be successful in correcting the economic crisis and ending two wars.
“As a nation, we donât want change, we want progress,” he said. “Change for changeâs sake is no good.”
