Leaders of campus political organizations reflect on recent elections
Leah Barber
news co-editor
A few signs and stickers are the only remnants on campus of a heated presidential campaign. Now, especially for the more politically inclined, there has been some time to relax and reflect upon the effort that?s already been made and what remains to be done.
Evan Charles Wolf and Thomas "Rocky" Thompson are two people on campus who are especially thoughtful during this post-election lull. As presidents of Tulane?s College Democrats and College Republicans, respectively, they have spent much of their time focusing on the elections and leading their organizations to promote political dialogue on campus.
Both organizations began the year by recruiting new members and helping students register to vote. They continued their commitments by campaigning for their candidates and now get to enjoy the victories experienced for both sides.
"This has been by far the best year the Tulane College Democrats have ever had. We are better organized and more effective than anytime in the past ? the Tulane College Democrats have achieved all of the club's goals," new College Democrats President Christopher Stowe-Serge said.
Wolf, former president of College Democrats recently abdicated the position, turning it over to former Vice President Stowe-Serge. Wolf will be devoting his time to the Charlie Melancon for U.S. Congress campaign.
Wolf said the College Democrats feel a great marker of their success has been the increase in voter turnout, up 400 percent since 1996 in the Tulane precinct.
"One of our main reasons for being is to support Democratic candidates and Democratic policies. The rawest measure of that is how many votes we got and what the improvement was from before, so in that sense, we were very successful," Wolf said.
Thompson said one of the main goals for the College Republicans was to campaign to get Sen. David Vitter elected.
"Many of our members are not from Louisiana and so we needed to get our members focused on Vitter, but to do that we had to put the campaign on a nationwide scope. We had to sell our people on Vitter by using the national campaign," Thompson said. "Some didn?t like it, but at the Vitter victory party ? there was a lot of delight, hugging, kissing, high fives and joy throughout the group."
On the other side of the victory rally, the College Democrats "were disheartened and feeling powerless," Stowe-Serge said. "That feeling, however, has quickly passed and our membership is now ready to continue fighting for just causes," he said.
"In the immediate aftermath, we were very depressed and shocked and disappointed. We really thought we were going to win. There are some who are still convinced that we did and that it was stolen, and there are others that are believing that they want to move to another country; that there?s no hope for America," Wolf said. "For the most part, I think people are in need of a break at the moment and are resting up, but I don?t think I?d say that anyone is demoralized or defeated at all. Not much changed since 2000; blue states stayed blue, red states stayed red. The margin was slightly wider ? but there?s no mandate on either side."
Both groups receive advice and support from the national College Democrat and College Republican organizations.
Thompson said the College Republicans were asked by the state party, which is in direct contact with the Louisiana Federation of College Republicans, to focus their effort on campaigning for Vitter. Thompson said he believes the work of the College Republicans in Orleans Parish helped get twice the amount of Republican votes than the previous Senate election in 2002.
College Republicans participated in phone banking the weekend before the election and waved signs in the rain at busy intersections on Election Day.
"We got a call from the Orleans Vitter chairperson telling us we were getting 49.5 percent of the vote and that we should stay out there as long as possible, and we did," Thompson said.
College Democrats also receive support from the Louisiana Federation of College Democrats and the national College Democrats organization.
"What the College Democrats of America did more than anything else was give clubs the tools they needed to succeed. This is an important role and one that the Tulane College Democrats appreciate," Stowe-Serge said.
Wolf also said that the most important action the College Democrats took for the Nov. 2 election was to focus on the Tulane University community.
"The most effective action we took for the presidential campaign was to rally our target population. Tulane University students clearly chose Kerry, and that is something of which we can be proud," Stowe-Serge said.
College Democrats also work with other student organizations to work for their common causes.
Free the Planet, FMLA, SOAR and TIPAC are some of the groups that Wolf said collaborate with the College Democrats and that have overlapping membership.
"Last year we had Social Justice Week where all the progressive groups on campus hosted events, and we?re going to do that again this spring," Wolf said.
Thompson said he considers the College Republicans to be more of a silent force but that he feels many of the active members are great leaders on Tulane?s campus.
"We have people serving on the Undergraduate Student Government and many members have executive positions in other organizations," Thompson said.
The College Republicans also have a working relationships with many local political groups such as the Young Republicans, the Pachyderm Club and several Republican women?s organizations.
"Youth involvement in the political process is essential ? I don?t think there?s nearly enough of a stigma attached to people in this country who don?t involve themselves in politics. Your most basic ? obligation to this country is to take an active role in politics," Wolf said. "I would rather somebody vote for a Republican than not vote. It pains me to say it, but nevertheless it?s true ? And if no one agrees with you it?s much much better to vote for a third party than not vote at all," he said.
"The coming months are an important time to become involved in the Democratic Party. Those who are involved now will help shape the future of our party and of our country. The Tulane College Democrats plan to continue to take an active leadership role in this molding process," Stowe-Serge said.
Thompson also feels the College Republicans takes an active leadership role and that it is important to fostering diversity of thought on Tulane?s campus.
"Just because we have different views doesn?t mean we?re wrong," he said. "I?m proud of the College Republicans, we?ve made a difference in the community and on this campus, and we?re going to continue furthering the causes we believe in."
2008 Woodie Awards
