As this fall’s political gramophone endlessly plays the “Change” track on both sides of the aisle, Marquette’s political groups march along—in more ways than one.
This election’s favorite buzzword is more than a platform policy—it’s a new approach to campaigning that both the McCain and Obama campaigns have embraced. Both parties have utilized unprecedented technology to reach voters, and despite that similarity, the national Obama and McCain campaign counterparts at Marquette have taken very different approaches to reach students.
CHANGING METHODS: PROGRESSIVE CAMPAIGNING ON CAMPUS
ON RED…
On the right, Students for McCain is focused primarily on attending off-campus events to spread McCain’s message to Marquette, and the surrounding Milwaukee community. “Campaigning is our main priority this year,” said Matt Dambach, Arts and Sciences senior and chair of Students for McCain at Marquette. “We distribute campaign literature, and hold weekly gatherings making phone calls at the McCain Victory Center in West Allis.”
Students for McCain has yet to bring speakers to campus or host election events at Marquette, but Dambach says he doesn’t think the group is lacking in presence. “It’s nice to have speakers, but especially in the next two months we think it’s a more beneficial use of time to reach voters, there will always be an opportunity to bring speakers in. We think it’s better to just go out and support McCain,” Dambach said.
Instead of looking to counter or compete with Students for Obama, Dambach said his group plans to solely focus on McCain. The organization currently works closely with Marquette College Republicans, and College Republicans chair Justin Phillips said the relationship between the two is evolving. “Right now there is a mix between the groups, though we hope that the roles of both organizations will be more distinct in the near future,” said Phillips. “One of the things we’ve talked about for the organizations was MUCRs handling off campus events and volunteer activities while Students for McCain handles more on campus things.”
Phillips said finding volunteers is one of the biggest challenges for the conservative cause at Marquette. “I have no doubt that MUCRs will be able to get people to volunteer once they find out that it is more fun than they realize,” said Phillips. “The other problem is the fact that being in both an urban setting and in a college campus, we’re fighting an uphill battle.”
The technological progressiveness of the national Obama campaign is also a challenge for those with the McCain camp locally. Dambach admits that the McCain campaign is behind technologically, but says it is debatable how many more young voters McCain could get with a more technologically based campaign. “I think it is well known that the Obama campaign was and still is aggressive with new technologies,” Dambach said. “However it should be noted that technological campaigning works well with younger voters and it is commonly known that younger voters tend to be more liberal.”
Dambach said that Facebook is one of his biggest tools, but he feels the most effective campaign results from a balance between technology and personal interaction. “Obviously campaigns are becoming more technologically based and as a result it is my job to make sure that Students for McCain keeps up with that,” said Dambach. “One of the key tools of this is Facebook and it is used, but at the same time I feel the most effective campaign tactics are face to face or at least over the phone where you can actually hear a human voice.”
ON BLUE…
Bringing an excitement to the election and registering students to vote is the main concern for Marquette’s College Democrats. Former chair of Marquette’s College Democrats and now State chair of Wisconsin College Democrats, Arts and Sciences senior Jason Rae says that because political involvement is often weaker with students, campaigning at Marquette can be a challenge. “We want to show that students can make a difference,” Rae said. “ The more students who vote, the more votes go to Barack Obama because of his message of hope and issues related to education, healthcare and many others that so widely affect students.”
Like their political counterparts, Marquette’s College Democrats also work closely with Students for Obama, however both groups are committed to maintaining a distinct focus in each respective organization.
“I work very hard, as does the chair of Students for Obama to ensure that campaign issues do not get muddled in with issues being addressed by College Democrats alone,” said Rae. “We understand that not everyone wants to be 100 percentfocused on the campaign all the time. Therefore, we are organizing some events unrelated to the election, such as issue forums and volunteer opportunities.”
Current chair of Marquette’s College Democrats, Arts and Sciences senior Kirsten Jones, said the election is the organization’s main concern this year, with special attention given to registering students to vote—as seen with the group’s registration rally with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, U.S. Representative Gwen Moore and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett last week. “Democrats at Marquette are going to be taking an important, active role this fall in registering new voters and educating them about the important issues at stake in this election,” Jones said. “The person we are voting for in November is not simply going to be deciding policy for the next four years, but will be deciding policy for the next two or three decades. As such, it is so important for students to see the difference.”
CHANGING MINDS: REACHING THE POLITICALLY UNAWARE STUDENT
Reaching the middle of the road and politically unaware students remain a challenge for both campus political groups. Despite a larger youth voter turnout in recent elections, Marquette Students for McCain and Students for Obama are working to reach even the most disinterested students. “We are working to extend our base of support to students who may have never been politically active before,” Jason Rae said. “We are simply building on that message by raising awareness of the issues, having guest speakers who students can get excited about (such as Howard Dean last week), and encouraging students to get out the vote.”
The fact that students typically tend to be liberal doesn’t frustrate Phillips, who said that CR’s could do a good job of having a strong campus presence. “The only reason Obama is the nominee is because he won urban areas and college campuses. We need to make people realize that the only candidate that will bring positive change to this country is John McCain,” Phillips said. “We’re specifically focusing on volunteer opportunities like phone banks and lit drops that get students out into communities for various candidates.”
Despite efforts to expand to students not involved in politics, Arts and Sciences junior Catie Uggeri said she never sees advertisements for political events and doesn’t feel informed about the political atmosphere on campus. “I never see posters for political events where I take classes in the Chemistry building,” Uggeri said. “ I think they [College Republicans and College Democrats] do a very poor job of bringing in uninformed students who don’t know a lot about politics.”
Uggeri said those who don’t have a basic framework of political knowledge find it difficult to get involved. “Maybe I should go and experience a meeting or political event, but I have this notion that it would be way over my head and I wouldn’t be able to follow it,” she said. “Unless it affects you directly or unless you can see how it affects you, I just lose interest, because it no longer pertains to me or what I spend my time doing.”
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