As summer nears, College Democrats, College Republicans look to November

In preparation for the 2012 presidential and congressional elections, the College Democrats and College Republicans say they plan to organize and discuss events and campaigning strategies over the summer.

The College Republicans will be discussing what events and campaigning the club will host in the fall, according to David Will ’14, the vice president of College Republicans. He said that he and College Republicans president Jacob Reses ’13 will also brainstorm potential speakers to bring in for the fall.

“We haven't confirmed anything yet, but we'll be inviting former presidential candidates, current and former Republican officeholders and other prominent leaders of the party," Reses said in an email. Reses is a former columnist for the 'Prince.'

Will also advised all students to start or continue researching the candidates during the summer so that they will be ready to campaign with either the College Republicans or the College Democrats, depending on which candidate students like best.

“If students are interested in politics or want to get interested in politics, presidential election year is pretty much the best time to do that,” Will said. “Summer before can be exciting with the conventions and choosing vice presidents. I’d say students should look into the different candidates and see which appeal to them the most and hopefully they’ll come over to [the Republicans],” he explained.

The College Democrats will be putting together ideas for canvassing and phone banking during the summer as well as other campaigning strategies, according to Will Mantell ’14, the events chair for the College Democrats. Mantell added that the College Democrats will reach out to incoming freshmen.

Natalie Sanchez ’14, the president of College Democrats, said she plans to send an email out to the freshmen — who provided their email addresses at the activities fair during the Preview weekends — about some of the College Democrats’ fall events.

“We’re going to try and get the incoming freshmen class very energized and very enthusiastic about getting Obama reelected,” said Adam Safadi ’14, the campaign chair for the College Democrats.

During the fall, the College Democrats will campaign mainly for President Barack Obama but also for some congressional candidates in close races, Mantell said. He explained that the group will most likely campaign for Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey and House candidates in eastern Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has played a key role in presidential elections for the past 50 years; though the state was red for most of the 20th century, Pennsylvanians have voted Democratic in the last five years.

Sanchez said she expects the group to do a lot of phone banking and trek out to Pennsylvania for canvassing, which involves knocking on residents’ doors and asking them for their support. She also said she wants to make sure University students are registered to vote either in New Jersey or in their home states.

“We really just want every Princeton student to be registered to vote and to be able to vote so they don’t miss any of the deadlines or anything,” Sanchez explained.

Mantell said he hopes to get freshmen registered to vote in the fall as well, “specifically making sure that people who live in swing states are registered to vote whether they are Democrats or Republicans in those swing states.” He said that the College Democrats would probably work with P-Votes and possibly the College Republicans on voter registration on campus.

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The College Republicans said they hope to employ similar campaigning methods by making trips to Pennsylvania and campaigning for the Republican U.S. Senate candidate there. Will said the group will also be paying attention to the local mayoral election in the consolidated Princeton and will most likely support former Borough Councilman and former Township Mayor Richard Woodbridge ’65, the only Republican candidate, as the first mayor of a unified Princeton.

“Our members will be doing what they can in the local mayoral race, as the outcome in Princeton could have enormous ramifications for future consolidation in towns throughout the state,” Reses explained.

Both the College Democrats and College Republicans expressed the likelihood of the presidential and congressional elections being close. As for predictions, many members of both groups said it was too early to tell just how close the elections will be.

Sanchez said she is excited about the election but also a bit worried.

“The economy is pretty bad so I’m sure regardless of who was running it’s going to be a close election,” she said.

Will expressed similar sentiments on the economy and how the state of it around the time of the elections will play a factor.

“Last time, after Bush in many people’s eyes disgraced himself and the Republican Party for eight years, Obama got 53 percent of the vote. So even then, it was very close. It’s hard to tell now with how the economy is because we didn’t really foresee it last time that the economy would become such a disaster the summer before the election,” Will explained.

Both groups said they hope to see campus become more enthusiastic about the presidential candidates in the fall. Mantell said he wishes that the turnout to the many events and speakers will parallel the turnout at functions during the 2008 election cycle.

“In 2008, when the first College Democrat meeting was held, obviously a couple months before Obama was elected, they were overflowing McCosh 10. So if we can get halfway there, we will be happy,” Mantell explained.

Will said he hopes that students will take the time to get somewhat involved in the campaign and that he looks forward to watching presidential debates with his fellow classmates in the fall.

“I think it’s important for young future leaders like ourselves to engage civically and engage in the political process even if it’s just going to vote on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November.”