Students mobilize for presidental election

Author: Michael Suen

In the last month, a burgeoning demographic has begun to assert its potential in swaying the outcome of the presidential elections: the college student. With the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucuses over, the race for the White House is now in full swing.

Whether or not Middlebury's students are invested in what political analysts are calling the most open race in more than 50 years, however, is another issue. Historically, the Middlebury student body has garnered a reputation for being largely indifferent towards social and political issues. Incoming students have noticed the apparent student apathy.

"I wasn't surprised that there weren't any prominent 'Students for Mitt' groups, but was shocked at the absence of a strong 'Students for Obama' group," said Ashley Sandy '11.

Despite the perceived apathy on campus, there is most certainly a select portion of the student body that has been actively involved. To facilitate the registering of voters, MiddVOTE held its first registration event in late November of 2007. With a turnout of 93 first-time registrants and additional absentee ballot applicants, student organizers were pleased by what they called "civic energy."

"It proved an effective way to raise awareness about the upcoming elections and about the ease with which we can register to vote or get absentee ballots," said MiddVOTE student leader Trevor Lee '09.

Already, some students have been carefully considering which candidate to support and where to cast their votes.

"I'm deciding whether I should vote in Vermont or Massachusetts, but right now I'm still deciding who to vote for," said Emma Lennon '11.

Moriel Rothman '11, an student campaigner for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), registered to vote in his home state of Ohio, an important state in the presidential race. "It falls on the backs of college students to decide the fate of our nation," he said.

There has been discussion among candidates over whether students should vote in their home states or in the states in which they attend college. The unique voting opportunity given to students to vote in the state of their college has already proven its paramount importance in the Iowa Democratic caucuses. CNN entrance polls revealed that among Democratic caucus-goers, 22 percent were attendees between the ages of 18 and 29. A significant portion of this age demographic voted for Iowa victor Obama, indicating the power of young voters, able to swing an election in any certain direction.

"This will be our world in the near future," said Rothman. "We will be running the businesses, running the economies and living our lives. It's up to us to make sure we have leaders we can trust and policies we agree with."

Despite this enthusiasm among some students, College Democrats Vice President John William Meyer '10 remains skeptical of college students' ostensibly crucial role in the upcoming election.

"There's always a lot of talk about young people getting involved and really changing the tide of the election," said Meyer. "This comes up with every election. However, I feel that there's a big divide with young people saying and young people voting."

Though a nationwide study by the University of Maryland's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement reported that while 80 percent of college students planned to vote in the 2004 presidential election, only 47 percent of nearly 25 million eligible 18- to 24-year-olds ultimately voted.

Nonetheless, in considering the sharp increase from the 36 percent of eligible young voters who participated in the 2000 presidential election, the rise of political participation may yet prove to be a continuous trend.

In the fall semester, College Democrats held information sessions to introduce the political backgrounds of Democratic presidential candidates Obama, Sen. Hilary Clinton (D-N.Y.), and former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), an opportunity to draw interest, educate uninformed students and mobilize voters.

For Republicans at Middlebury, voting seems as if it could be adversely affected by pressure from a predominantly liberal student body. According to Sandy, though "people [can] be swayed in their voting," being a conservative in a left-leaning college can equally provide "the opportunity to say what I think, receive mostly negative feedback, and strengthen my reasoning to defend what I believe."

Despite the ongoing efforts to spread political awareness, many students feel generally unaffected, though not necessarily unaware.

"I haven't seen as much of a political presence on campus as I thought I would have," said Lennon, "There have been debates and documentaries, like 'No End in Sight,' and in this sense I guess there has been a formal political influence."

Though an abundance of political groups such as MiddVOTE, College Democrats, College Republicans and Justice League do exist on campus and have offered screenings, informational meetings, speakers and discussions to further foster political interest, students have observed that involvement only extends to immediate participants.

"There are a lot of kids that are politically active, but the campus itself is not necessarily conducive to political activism," said Rothman. "There are certain groups that are passionate, politically active and not apathetic. But then there are also people that have other things to think about, or don't care. You'll always have both."