By Kyle Winslow
In lieu of the upcoming midterm elections on Tues., Nov. 7, the College Democrats and College Republicans at the University of Louisville have been working around the calendar to encourage student participation in pre-election activities.
Although they have opposing views with one another, they share the same goal of achieving student membership and helping out with the local campaigns of their parties.
Both the College Democrats and College Republicans have received a substantial amount of interest through the tables they occasionally set up near the Student Activities Center. These tables provide candidate information and offer sign up sheets for specific volunteer opportunities.
According to Matt Tompkins, a sophomore political science major and parliamentarian for the College Democrats, the group shared a booth with the Jefferson County Clerk’s office on Sept. 27 and obtained over 30 potential College Democrats members. The clerk’s office received over 50 newly registered voters.
Christina Poole, a senior political science major and vice chair for the College Republicans, said there were a significant amount of U of L students that demonstrated interest in getting involved with the midterm elections.
U of L students such as Rob Kirkwood, a sophomore business management major, share similar values as the two groups, but have no interest in joining either one of them. “I’d rather be in an organization that brings people together, rather than segregate them,” said Kirkwood.
Other students felt that the organizations may be a little too radical for them. Nick Kues, a sophomore finance major said, “I am more moderate and I cannot choose sides. I don’t want to get involved in either of the organizations because I am afraid they would either be way left or way right.”
Candice Preston, a junior mathematics major, alluded to her interest in joining the College Republicans, but admitted that she has not seen any of the groups promoting their organizations around campus and has not heard much about them. “I have seen nothing on campus as far as advocating the College Republicans, and although I am pretty busy with school and extracurricular activities, I would look into joining the organization,” said Preston.
Both organizations look to increase their publicity especially with the upcoming elections through service projects and future events.
According to Poole, the College Republicans will be helping out with the campaigns of U.S. Third Congressional District Representative Anne Northup, candidate for Mayor Kelly Downard, U.S. Fourth Congressional District Representative Geoff Davis and Metro Councilman Glen Stuckel of District 17.
The College Democrats will be promoting such candidates as democratic mayoral incumbent, Jerry Abramson, and candidate for U.S. Third Congressional District Representative, John Yarmuth. Others include Douglas Goodman for Kentucky’s State Senate in the Tenth District, and Amy Shir for the Kentucky State House District 48. Both groups have events that have been going on and many more to come ahead.
According to Melanie Tate, senior political science major and president of the College Democrats, “The U of L College Democrats were a huge volunteer presence at the Campaign Kickoff Rally on Sept. 14, which featured U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.
We were in the stands taking down voter information, staffing tables for campaign literature, volunteer information; and our most important role, being there in large numbers, demonstrating to the community that young people are informed and do care about our next generation of leaders.”
Tate also said that the College Democrats will be “organizing group volunteer days for several of our local candidates, where we will carpool to go on precinct walks, deliver yard signs and do anything else that is needed.”
The College Republicans will also be extremely busy throughout the rest of the year supporting their ideas and interests and staying involved in the community.
“We are doing a service project once a month. On Oct. 22, we will be pledging money for the October Breast Cancer Awareness Walk. In November we will be volunteering at a local soup kitchen.
And finally in December, we will be adopting angel trees and purchasing gifts as a group while simultaneously promoting the purchase of phone cards for the members of our military serving overseas,” said Poole.
Both groups acknowledged that there are always opportunities for students to get involved if they would like to.
The next meeting for the College Republicans will be tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the new wing of the Ekstrom Library, room W210. The College Democrats will be meeting on Oct.12 at 8 p.m. The location has not yet been confirmed.
To find out additional information on the College Democrats and the College Republicans visit
www.collegedems.com or louisville.collegerepublicans.org
