Students campaign for Democrats

Missie Bender
Arts and Entertainment Editor

     This past weekend was an important one for the students who have taken on time-consuming leadership positions to voice their opinion on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for both Democratic political groups on campus. The College of Wooster Students for Hillary Clinton and The College of Wooster Students for Barack Obama campaigned around Ohio for their specific candidate. The primary goal of both organizations is to inform voters.
     Anthropology major Sarah Green-Golan ’09 is the Lead Coordinator for C.O.W. Students for Hillary Clinton. Green-Golan’s main objective is to get down to the important issues that Clinton focuses on and to alert the student body of that information. “[C.O.W. Students for Hillary Clinton] agrees that the President of the United States should be a brilliant, capable leader with a proven record of standing up for her principles. [Clinton] has done this for over 35 years [and] her experience and values make her, as she says ‘uniquely qualified’ for [the role of] President,” Green-Golan said.
     She added that Ohio is a very important state in terms of voting. “Our group feels lucky that we are in Ohio, and [we are] strong enough to show others that we are not scared of going against the grain by supporting Clinton.”
     Representing the other side of the divide is Ted Hickey ’08, the chapter leader for C.O.W. Students for Barack Obama. “My role as Chapter Coordinator is to organize the Obama campaign efforts here on campus and turn out as many students, staff and faculty for Senator Obama as possible on March 4,” Hickey said.
     Hickey and Green-Golan are both responsible for coordinating and organizing publicity, meeting times and events between their campaign and the College. Something else that Hickey and Green-Golan have in common is that they both use Facebook to publicize their campaign. Green-Golan uses this social Web site to get an accurate estimate on the number of students involved in the campaign.
     Jeremy Dominik ’09, an administrator for the C.O.W. Students for Hillary campaign, noted that phone calls keep people up to date on what is going on with the campaign. “[This past weekend,] I went canvassing and made phone calls,” he said.
     C.O.W. Students for Barack Obama did similar campaigning. Hickey noted that communication all around Ohio is imperative. “This [past] weekend, 23 members of [our organization] knocked on over 400 doors in the local community, engaged in visibility efforts at the North End shopping center and attended [Obama’s] rally in Akron,” he said. Similarly, Green-Golan stated that visibility is key in primary elections.
     Green-Golan stressed the importance of voting for Clinton because she is the only candidate offering universal healthcare, noting that Clinton was the only candidate to even suggest such a plan back in the 1990s.
     “Since her plan mandates coverage for everyone, while Sen. Obama’s mandates cover only for children, Newsweek and other sources tell us that experts estimate between 15 to 26 million people would not be covered. I believe Senator Clinton when she tells us that if you don’t start out covering everyone, you will never achieve universal healthcare.” She also applauds Clinton’s unique future creation of “green-collar jobs,” stating that they are jobs to create and maintain energy-efficiency.
     “I also support her comprehensive plan to get us out of Iraq and I also [support how] she stands up for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community. Policy-wise, I’m all HRC,” Green-Golan said.
     Hickey campaigns for Obama for more general reasons. “Before we can change the way we act as a nation, we must change the way we think about ourselves, and Sen. Obama is the only candidate asking the people of the United States to think differently about themselves, their country and their politics,” he said. “Senator Obama is a leader who has the capacity to turn the page on the bitter politicking of the past and direct a new road forward for this country.”
     Both Green-Golan and Hickey have important advice for legal voters who may be unsure about who to vote for. “This country has always been about being better than we ever dreamed possible,” Hickey said. “This country can be a beacon of hope and opportunity for the domestic populous and the entire world, but only if we choose a leader who embodies these characteristics and challenges us all to be the change we have been waiting for.”
     Green-Golan noted that students who are confused about whom to vote for have the opportunity to attend sessions put on by the respective organizations. C.O.W. Students for Hillary Clinton held a “Hillary 101” session yesterday that was complete with a surrogate for the campaign.
     C.O.W. Students for Hillary Clinton has been telling people who are unsure of who to vote for to pick the issues that matter most to you and research them. “See whose plans you agree with and whose record fits most with what you believe. That should always be the basis for your vote,” Green-Golan said.
     Green-Golan and Hickey both stressed the importance of the primaries and how this presidential race will be a close one. “Young voters are also coming out in record numbers, likely because we are sick of President Bush and because of the historic nature of this campaign, and people are taking notice,” said Green-Golan.

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