Students organize for state primary
College candidate groups start push
Posted: Jan. 27, 2008
Despite
single-digit temperatures and a long line for pizza, more than 200
students turned out Thursday night at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison for a meeting to kick off the semester for Students
for Obama.
They were not only buying red Barack Obama T-shirts, but signing up to make phone calls and canvass on campus.
"The more people we have, the more people we can reach and talk to,"
said Erik Opsal, communications director for Students for Obama at
UW-Madison, as students snaked past him toward the packed lecture hall.
Fresh off winter break and eager to hit the pavement, some
politically active students are starting to mobilize get-out-the-vote
efforts and form groups for a range of candidates still left in the
race leading into Wisconsin's Feb. 19 primary.
Students for Hillary at the UW-Madison are planning a "day of
action" this week to recruit volunteers for phone banks and canvasses
in dorms to build support for Clinton's candidacy.
At Marquette University, Students for Ron Paul have been quickly
signing up those who've been captivated by online videos of the Texas
congressman.
And in western Wisconsin, Nick Carow has been trying to round up
fellow student volunteers at UW-River Falls to start building a state
operation for John McCain.
Wisconsin's role in the primary season is still unclear, although
campus organizers hope the state plays prominently in the nomination of
the presidential candidate for each party.
"I think this could be a pretty important event here in Wisconsin,"
said Oliver Kiefer, chairman of the UW-Madison College Democrats.
Wisconsin had the second-highest turnout among young voters in the 2004 general election, trailing only Minnesota.
Peter Levine, director of the Center for Information & Research
on Civic Learning & Engagement, a Washington-area research group,
said record high youth turnout in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire
primary this year suggests that their numbers will be high for the
remaining primaries and the general election.
In Iowa, 13% of eligible voters under age 30 participated, up from
4% in 2004, according to the center, although the Republican side
wasn't contested in 2004. In New Hampshire, 43% of eligible voters
under age 30 cast primary ballots, up from 18% in 2004.
Levine warned that too much squabbling by the candidates could keep
some young voters on the sidelines in the primary, noting that focus
groups drawn from more than 400 college students indicated that
political conflict was a big turn-off for young voters.
Before the primary season started, many people had written off
Wisconsin's primary on Feb. 19 as irrelevant. But now, with both
parties locked in nomination fights, Wisconsin - two weeks after Super
Tuesday - looms as a potential battleground.
Gov. Jim Doyle, who spoke to the Students for Obama kickoff meeting
at UW-Madison, said he thinks young voters could play a key role in
what's likely to be an important contest.
"People are really engaged, they're really active and I think
they're going to make the difference," said Doyle, who supports Obama,
a U.S. senator from Illinois.
Building interest
Walk through the student unions at UWM,
UW-Madison, Marquette University or Milwaukee Area Technical College
and you'd be hard-pressed to find campaign signs or literature just yet.
Still, political efforts are on the upswing.
The New Voters Project, a nonprofit initiative of the student Public
Interest Research Groups, is working with the college Republicans and
Democrats at UWM to register first-time voters.
The group registered about 1,800 new voters in 2004 and hopes to
register 2,500 to 3,000 by November, said Scott Dettman, chairman of
the UWM chapter of the Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group
and coordinator of the UWM New Voters Project.
At UW-Madison, College Democrats have registered 1,000 students in
recent weeks. Students for Hillary will hit the streets to recruit
supporters on Jan. 31, while students backing John Edwards at
UW-Madison will hold a kickoff meeting Feb. 5.
Students also are organizing online. Facebook, the social networking
site, hosts Wisconsin student groups for Republicans Rudy Giuliani,
former New York mayor; Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor;
McCain, U.S. senator from Arizona; and Paul; and for Democrats Clinton,
senator from New York; John Edwards, former senator from North
Carolina; and Obama.
College Republicans at UWM have been leafleting in the student union with information about the candidates.
"It's hard and futile to get students to join in the first week" of
the semester, said Tyler Kristopeit, who heads up the UWM Students for
Romney. "I have no doubt that (students) will be engaged."
Students for Ron Paul at Marquette University was the only candidate
group at the school's Organization Fest this month, but a Hillary
Clinton group is starting to organize, said Jason Rae, chairman of the
Marquette University College Democrats.
Levine said it's unclear how popularity on social networking sites translates into votes but noted the buzz can't hurt.
For student organizers, a candidate's online presence is key.
"That's where everybody's connected," said Brad Long, head of the UWM Students for Obama.
Joseph Kay, an organizer with UWM Students for Obama, recently
switched to Obama from Edwards because he felt Obama was more likely to
win the nomination.
"Edwards has a very bad Facebook presence," he said.
Peter Rickman, a UW-Madison graduate student who has been organizing
Students for Edwards for a year, said Edwards supporters have used all
available tools, online and off.
"We're focused on just conducting a grass-roots campaign that really does activate people around a message," he said.
Candidates such as Obama and Paul have struck a chord with young voters, who are attracted to their non-traditional approaches.
Paul support groups are "just spontaneously sparking up around the
country, especially on college campuses, where people are disillusioned
by the standard offerings from the parties," said Josiah Garetson, a
Paul organizer at Marquette.
Key issues cited
The Journal Sentinel informally questioned
40 students at UWM, UW-Madison, MATC and Marquette last week to find
out more about their interest in the election and the issues important
to them.
Most important were the economy, education and rising college tuition, and the war in Iraq and other foreign policy issues.
Mirroring trends nationwide for youth voters, surveyed students
tended to be Democratic, but on both sides, they supported a range of
candidates.
Still, without candidate visits to bring attention to the upcoming
primary, one challenge for student organizers is simply making their
peers aware there's a primary.
In contrast to the Madison meeting, only three people turned up a week ago for the kickoff meeting of UWM Students for Obama.
"The biggest problem is, people are interested, but when it comes down to doing something. . . ," said organizer Noah Gehling.
From the Jan. 28, 2008 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
