By Akeem Mellis
To some students, discussion about the 2008 Presidential Election before it takes place may seem boring. But, to other students and two political science professors, it is vital that students become part of the political process.
The Day of Dialogue event “Who are the Presidential Candidates?-Learn before you vote” highlighted the basics of next years’ race for the White House and what it means to students. Professors Richard Himelfarb and Rosanna Perotti took turns informing students about the presidential candidates, where they stand and how the presidential system works.
In his 25-minute presentation, Himelfarb outlined five key points about what issues are shaping the race. Both political parties “are afraid to change the campaign schedule,” Himelfarb said, as he went through how and why Iowa and New Hampshire are the most important states for candidates to win. Iowa holds the nations’ first caucus, and New Hampshire has the first primary.
Himelfarb addressed the students in attendance about the significance of “Super Tuesday”-the day more than 20 states and half the political parties’ convention delegates will be up for grabs. He added that the primaries are “more democratic, with a smaller number of voters participating,” referring to what he called the “true believers”-the die-hard partisan members of both the Democratic and Republican parties.
He said 2008 would be the “Year of the Moderates,” with presidential frontrunners Rudolph Giuliani and Hillary Clinton taking positions on issues their respective parties strongly disagree with them on, though he stressed that there is not “an ordained conclusion on who will get the nomination,” referring to past campaigns where frontrunners failed to secure their party’s nomination, most recently Howard Dean in 2004.
In contrast, Perotti’s presentation was more of a pure informational speech, as she used a laptop to direct students to certain news Web sites where information about primaryschedule of primaries, news about the presidential race and the positions the candidates hold are located.
She gave students three directives to focus on: registering to vote, qualifying to vote and learning who is running.
With the first two directives, Perotti instructed students to know when their party’s primary will be, as the states are in charge of setting dates, as well as to check their registration and whether or not they can vote in a certain primary.
“In 2004, thousands of Ohio voters went to the polls to vote but could not because their names were purged because they did not vote in any election in a long while,” she said.
In the final directive, Perotti joined Himelfarb in stressing finding out who is running for president. “Find your preference among the candidates,” she said.
Students said they felt more informed about the political process. “I am excited to hear that there was an increase in student voter turnout in elections. I learned some stuff about the caucuses, so that was very helpful,” said Valerie Lucas, a sophomore film production major.
Himelfarb said the recent rush of states to move up their primary dates would hurt the primary system in the short run, but benefit it in the long run. “It gives an advantage to better known candidates. Voters must make a snap decision. They can’t make contact with the candidates,” Himelfarb said. “But is it good? Well, the elites and party leaders see that the system must be changed.”
Perotti also added that the nuances among the candidates “help the candidates to distinguish themselves. Just look at some of the issues, like Hillary Clinton on the war.”
Perotti’s advice to students: “Go to the polls on primary and election day and vote.”