Mid-term elections are coming up, and the leaders of the Tulane College Republicans and Democrats have very full agendas. Both groups have prepared various opportunities to get students involved and actively participate in the elections.
The major issues nationally for the Republicans, as stated by co-president of the College Republicans Ally Funk, include the war in Iraq, immigration, social security reform and security in the Middle East. The local issues embrace rebuilding New Orleans, removing corrupt leaders and creating more jobs.
On the left side, the single most important issue for the Democrats, according to College Democrats President David Friedman, is focusing on "why the country is doing so much worse than it was before."
Freshman Vicky Illk believes another important issue for the College Democrats "is focusing on more local issues, especially re-building New Orleans."
Friedman is also concerned with the government's plan for rebuilding NOLA.
"If the nation wanted, we could rebuild New Orleans tomorrow. Instead, there's hesitation and hand-wringing on every level of government," he said. "I'm a New Yorker, and I saw what this nation did after 9/11. To this day, I don't know why we haven't seen the same thing after Katrina."
To work on the progress toward these issues, both groups are campaigning for specific candidates.
Republican candidates include Joe Lavigne (District 2 Congressional race), James David Cain (Insurance Commissioner) and Jay Dardenne (Secretary of State).
"The club is making opportunities for all members to get involved in campaigns," Funk said.
The club will also devote every other meeting to policy discussions to allow members to discuss important issues.
The Tulane College Democrats have also been hard at work campaigning for several candidates.
The group has made over 350 phone calls and volunteered at a community dinner in LaPlace for Charlie Melancon (District 3 Congressional race). The group also made phone calls for Amos Cormier, who is running for the Plaquemines Parish presidency.
John Edwards Jr. (Distrct 2 Congressional race) attended the loosely affiliated Drinking Liberally party and spoke at a recent College Democrats meeting. There are also plans for a canvassing trip to Tennessee for Harold Ford Jr.'s Senate campaign. Ford holds the potential 6th seat for the Senate, which would give the Senate a Democratic majority.
"We're going to do our part to take back the Congress," Friedman said.
Although these political groups obviously hold different views, there is one identical goal: battle voter apathy. Both Funk and Friedman agree the apathy on campus is too prevalent and plan to use the mid-term elections as a way to get students interested in politics through the different campaign opportunities.
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Teresa
posted 9/29/06 @ 8:47 PM CST
this article is very good!
the girl who wrote it is the shit, she's def going places
:)
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