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Left-leaning University of Wisconsin student groups created a ruckus at the Memorial Union Wednesday at a youth vote panel featuring Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin.

The Campus Antiwar Network, the International Socialists Organization and Students for Nader marched into Tripp Commons as soon as Baldwin began talking about the financial bailout.

When Baldwin said President George W. Bush asked for a blank check, a protester screamed out, “Why did you vote for it twice then?”

Baldwin made clear she did not vote for a blank check.

“The package that we voted on in Congress was not the president’s package,” Baldwin said. “We got to work immediately to provide safeguards to the taxpayers.”

Panelist and UW political science professor David Canon backed Baldwin up, saying Bush’s original plan was three pages long and Congress lengthened the plan to allow for the renegotiation of mortgages.

CAN organizer Rob Lewis had originally planned for the protest to take place outside, but protesters eventually moved into the Union after they were told by building manager Chris Hurt they would not be allowed to use a megaphone.

Lewis and other protesters were attempting to find out why Baldwin supported the bailout, despite the fact that many of her constituents were against it and that there were other alternatives.

“We want to speak out against what the government is doing but also provide alternatives and put forward something different, because we feel the bailout is only making the crisis worse,” Lewis said.

Baldwin responded by saying she felt preventing a freeze of all lending, including mortgages and student loans, was best for her constituents, and that the bailout was the best possible solution.

“I felt the responsibility to act,” Baldwin said. “I didn’t think inaction was acceptable. I think it was the right vote to take for my constituents.”

After the interruption, the panel went back to discussing the bailout, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care and energy policy, with only a handful of interruptions from the audience.

Baldwin said health care reform cannot be affected by the bailout, and a move to a more European-style system, like the one proposed by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, is needed.

UW history professor and panelist John Sharpless, who ran against Baldwin for Congress in 2000, noted several European countries are making a “hasty retreat” from their health care systems.

He also expects that neither Obama nor Republican candidate John McCain can change the current system, despite the nonpartisan belief that the system has its flaws.

“My suspicion is that neither one can deliver on their plans,” Sharpless said. “I hate to be cynical about this, but there are so many lobbying groups that have a stake, tragically, in the current system. So it’s very hard to make progress.”

Energy policy and conflicts in the Middle East were brought together as one issue. Sharpless said it is time to admit the Iraq war was waged for oil.

“Whether you like it or not, as long as we’re sucking at the oil trough, we will have to commit force in the world if that’s jeopardized,” Sharpless said. “If you want to end that, stop drinking oil by the gallons.”

Marquette University senior and Democratic Superdelegate Jason Rae was part of the panel and recommended that ethanol, wind and solar energy should be looked at as alternatives.

UW senior Paris Glazer, a conservative panelist, suggested moving toward nuclear power, as has been suggested by McCain. He pointed out France and other western countries use nuclear power for most of their energy.

“Nobody wants a big can of oozing green globs sitting in their backyard,” Glazer said. “But we can dispose of this in a safe manner.”

The main purpose of the panel, organized by the nonpartisan group Project Youthanize, was to inform students about the importance of the youth vote.

Sharpless, who specializes in U.S. history since World War II, said that though many candidates throughout history have boasted their election as the most important one in decades, this one actually is crucial.

He compared it to the 1932 election when Franklin D. Roosevelt took office, starting nearly four decades of Democratic dominance in Washington.

“If [young people] just come in for the moment and leave, then Obama could win, and it’ll be a moment, and people will talk about the role of the youth vote,” Sharpless said. “But what’s really key for a major shift in politics is if you then grow old as a Democrat.”

Canon said he has noticed more interest among students on campus, adding that earlier on Wednesday he overheard several students walking around and talking about Tuesday night’s debate between McCain and Obama.

“There’s more interest in this campaign than I’ve ever seen on campus in my 17 years here,” Canon said. “There’s just a buzz out there that you normally don’t hear.”

In an interview following the panel, Baldwin said youth involvement was evident even at the event, and though CAN, ISO and Students for Nader may have caused a “momentary disruption,” she has been “civilly disobedient” as well.

“I very much respect the fact that they’ve taken the frustration and anxiety that they feel a step further to speak out and to participate in the process,” Baldwin said.

Canon also complimented the protesters, saying they were the “embodiment” of what was being discussed.