Efforts redoubled as campaign closes

Author: Adam Schaffer

With the Nov. 4 presidential election rapidly approaching, College Republicans and Democrats are scrambling to convince undecided voters to come out for their candidates.

College Democrats gathered Oct. 24 in the Hillcrest Environmental Center to make phone calls to potential supporters of Democratic nominee Barack Obama. Their work was facilitated by an interactive program on Obama's web site, which gave volunteers phone numbers, a script and methods to classify voters' plans for Election Day. The calls were not focused on influencing voters, however, as Hillary Aidun '12 explained.

"We're doing ID calls, trying to identify voters who the Obama campaign should focus their attention on by classifying their level of support for either candidate, saving [the campaign] time and money," she said.

Will Bellaimey '10, co-president of the Middlebury College Democrats, nevertheless encourages his volunteers to engage in a conversation about their candidate given a chance.

"People have woken up from the post-9/11 fear," he said. "Our candidate no longer suffers from an identity crisis, and the organization is much better. We're winning the ground game-we have offices in all fifty states."

The replies received by the Middlebury student callers from possible supporters were mixed. Responses ranged from one man who claimed to be voting for Mickey Mouse to another who changed his party affiliation for the first time in 50 years for Obama.

Despite the energy in the room, fellow co-president George Altshuler '10 reiterated that the election is not yet over.

"I feel good, but I'm still nervous. This election is too important to let up [campaigning]," he said.

Not all students seemed to agree, however, as the Wednesday night event only drew about 15 students. Altshuler, Bellaimey and the College Democrats will continue phone banking until Election Day.

Despite the liberal bent of the campus, the College Republicans also are involved in supporting their candidate, Senator John McCain. They plan to travel to New Hampshire to campaign this weekend.

As Heather Pangle, president of the College Republicans explained, it would be ineffective for the group to campaign in Vermont.

"Campaigning in Vermont would be about as useful as the College Democrats campaigning in Texas," she said.

While Obama is pulling ahead in the polls, Pangle has not lost hope for her candidate.

"It isn't over until it's over. Anything could happen - between now and the election, or on Election Day," she said. "As people get into the voting booth [they'll] ask themselves whether they really want to put the presidency in the hands of the most liberal, inexperienced candidate in memory."

The Nov. 4 election also includes some highly controversial propositions, such as Prop. 8 in California. College Dems are making phone calls opposing the proposition, which would limit marriage to male-female couples. The Republicans are not involved.

Assistant Professor of Political Science Bert Johnson noted the high level of youth involvement nationally.

"There is certainly a lot of excitement about this election," he said. "[However] will it swing the election? It looks like it won't be that close … but it certainly helps that there are a lot of young people out there working."

Nevertheless, as many students on campus have noted, involvement is not especially high; College Republicans had fewer than ten members campaigning.

Some students, such as Tom Campanella '12 say, "there just aren't enough opportunities for conservatives to get involved."

Even liberal students are not especially involved, as Clare Vance '12 noted.

"You don't see massive protests, or pro-Obama or -McCain rallies here," she said. It seems like students [at Middlebury] don't feel the need to convince each other because we all share such similar views."

Regardless of the reasons for the low level of campus involvement, Johnson believes "it's hard to blame busy people [on campus] for not getting involved. It's the duty of our leaders to inspire us to get involved in politics."