College GOPs and Dems weigh in

With Nov. 4 quickly approaching, student democrats on campus are gearing up for the 2008 presidential election. In addition to supporting Sen. Barack Obama's campaign, the St. Bonaventure University College Democrats is reaching out to local candidates and encouraging the student body to cast its votes, whether for Democratic or Republican candidates.

Junior political science major Dan Volkosh, College Democrats president, and his fellow student Democrats are attempting to promote Obama (D-Ill.), but Volkosh said the group has encountered some issues.

Volkosh said the school's need to remain impartial prevents any official support for a candidate.

The College Democrats will participate in the Rock the Vote event on Oct. 18 at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts as a way to educate student voters about Obama's positions on key issues. Rock the Vote is a national effort to encourage students to vote by reaching them through music and popular culture, according to rockthevote.com.

"We will be displaying Obama's information ... and we do encourage students to vote for him along with other democrats," Volkosh said.

The College Democrats has joined forces with the College Republicans to further educate student voters about the candidates. The two groups will team up to show the presidential debates between Obama and John McCain (R-Ariz.) on campus.

"If students attend the debates, we think they speak for themselves," Volkosh said. The College Democrats hope showing the debates again will allow the students to form opinions and get excited about the election.

The College Democrats are in close contact with Daniel Levin, the New York state president of College Democrats, Volkosh said. Volkosh encourages the College Democrats to participate in events hosted by Levin and the College Democrats statewide.

Also in anticipation of the November election, the College Democrats is working to support local democratic candidates.

"I encourage members to take part in the political process for Democratic candidates," Volkosh said. "We have gone to the Massa office in Olean to help them with volunteer work. We have logged a lot of hours there."

Eric Massa is the Democratic candidate campaigning to represent the 29th district, St. Bonaventure's district, in the House of Representatives.

To further support Massa, Volkosh and the College Democrats have arranged to bring him to campus for a town hall-style meeting on Oct. 29. Students will be able to speak with Massa in a question-and-answer type of setting.

Certain members have taken a special interest in the 2008 election and are working in other areas to support Obama and encourage student participation in the election.

Junior political science major Peter Hartnett is a member of the College Democrats and is leading the Get Stoked to Vote campaign. The program is non-partisan and encourages involvement from both Republican and Democratic supporters, Hartnett said.

"The goal of Get Stoked to Vote is to build a basis for a good voter turnout here at Bona's by registering as many students as possible to vote here on campus and in the surrounding student community," Hartnett said.

Get Stoked to Vote registered students to vote in the Hickey Dining Hall during dinner hours.

Senior accounting major Kevin Rhode, democrat, agreed student voters will be important in this election.

"Young people in this election matter even more," Rhode said. "They're registering in record numbers and they could determine the outcome of the election."

In addition to Hartnett, senior political science major and College Democrats member Cara Pavlock is spending the semester in Phoenix, Ariz., to work for the Obama campaign. She said she is working in Phoenix because Obama is gaining popularity in Arizona, even though it is a traditionally Republican state. Pavlock said she is working on the Obama campaign because she is impressed by the positions he has taken on several key issues.

"I agree with his stances on healthcare and I believe he has real solutions to the dire problems facing our nation," Pavlock said.

She encourages students to get involved in the campaign by visiting my.barackobama.com to volunteer. Pavlock said students can volunteer from home by participating in Neighbor to Neighbor, a program that advocates grassroots campaigning such as making phone calls and knocking on doors.

Student democrats outside of the College Democrats also see the importance of the 2008 election.

"It's definitely the most important election of our lifetime and of our parents' lifetime due to the economic crisis. Rhode said. "It's a pretty important time for America."

Student involvement in the College Democrats has increased recently in anticipation of the election. Volkosh said the election has attracted many new members to the College Democrats and has generated new and more enthusiastic interest in politics in general.

"We have new freshmen that are particularly fired up, and a lot of people (who) are coming to our meetings or our volunteer time exhibit the same fire," Volkosh said.

He said this new "fire" can be attributed to student awareness of the decisions made by the current Bush administration.

"A lot of students are fed up with the current political situation with President George Bush and the Republican election tactics, which really has motivated a lot of students to get more involved with the political process to be heard," Volkosh said. "I think a lot of students are just smart enough to see that the current situation the nation is in isn't good and that change needs to come.