With the recent conclusion of both the Republican and the Democratic National Conventions, the election season is in full swing. While a storm of politics rages across the country, what will be the political climate on the Gustavus campus?

Within a crowd of 10,000 people, a single flag-draped coffin came down the road, accompanied by a slow and deliberate drumbeat. The Veterans for Peace joined numerous other organizations at the state capitol on September 1, 2008, to march in protest on the Republican National Convention (RNC).

The protesters followed the coffin down the march’s route, walking within 300 feet of the Excel Energy Center. That night, the Republican National Convention commenced, concluding three days later, on September 4, 2008.  “Now, here’s a little news flash,” Vice-Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin said to her roaring Republican crowd during her acceptance speech on September 3, 2008.

“Here’s a little news flash for those reporters and commentators. I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I’m going to Washington to serve the good people of this great country!”
It is not every day that American politics are as tangible in Minnesota as they were during the RNC. The St. Paul air, thick with protest, politics and pepper spray, was carried as far south as St. Peter, where Gustavus students were beginning their first week of the fall semester. The excitement is likely to grow here on campus as we approach this November’s elections.

“I think [this campus] will be full of energy on both sides,” said Sophomore Political Science and Religion Major Sean Tessmer, co-president of the Gustavus College Republicans. “Each side has a young candidate who is extremely energetic and brings so much energy to the table, and I think that’s really going to stir the passions on each side.” Tessmer was able to attend the RNC as a delegate for his home state of North Dakota.

“It was a blast. Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman … really got things going, [and] then Wednesday with Guliani, Romney and Huckabee, you could feel the energy throughout the entire night, and then when Palin came up to give her speech everybody went crazy. McCain’s speech wasn’t as energetic, but it was a good message and I think the American people really needed to hear … more of what he’d like to do and who he is as a man.”

In recent history, college students do not have a great reputation for showing their political engagement at the voting booths. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the 18 to 24 age bracket had the lowest voter turnout in 2000 and 2004 at 36 and 47 percent, respectively.

“I just want to know as a veteran and as a student why students are so quiet now,” said Iraq War veteran Cameron White at the March on the RNC. “There was a mass student movement during the Vietnam War. Why aren’t people outraged? So many college students I’ve met know people who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Are they okay with it? Or if they are against it, why don’t they do anything about it?”

Kacy Wothe, senior political science major and co-president of the Gustavus College Democrats, foresees a different participation level this election season. “I think we’re going to see some of the biggest turnout by college students ever. College students become interested by something new and fresh … Regardless of the outcome, we have a history-making election. Be you a republican or a democrat, you have something new, fresh and exciting to go out and participate in,” Wothe said.

“I think we’re going to see [students participating in] numbers unheard of. Last year we had 69 percent for our age group in this precinct, which is already outstanding, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this year we had 80 percent or higher, which would be phenomenal,” Wothe said.

Despite the tense dialogue between democrats and republicans at the national level, the Gustavus College Democrats and Republicans are collaborating this year to encourage voter turnout. “It’s something I’ve strived to do, because I think that we can do more together than we can apart,” said Senior Political Science Major Carla Shutrop, co-president of the Gustavus College Republicans.

“Even though there are a lot of differences between our organizations in beliefs, etc., in the end we all have the same goals. We want people to be involved and engaged, and our groups have always been able to work together since I’ve been here.”

One way the two groups hope to work together is by hosting debates on campus with different Minnesota candidates, most likely Gustavus Professor and Minnesota State Legislature Democrat Terry Morrow with Republican opponent Mike Bidwell, and possibly Democratic Congressman Tim Walz with Republican opponent Brian Davis.

“I think [it] would be really good for the campus to get some opposing viewpoints clashing on campus,” said Tessmer, “to try to stir up some discussion, because that’s really what we want; we want discussion and we want people to learn from each other and bring that intellectual diversity and intellectual growth that comes from challenging and defending ideas.”

The College Democrats are hosting a barbeque for anyone interested at 6:30 p.m. this Friday, Sept. 12 in the Johns Family Courtyard. Representative Morrow will be available to talk to students. The Gustavus Republicans plan to hold a barbeque of their own soon.

Both groups are making efforts to bring candidates to campus to speak and interact with students. The College Democrats have confirmed Morrow, and the College Republicans confirmed Bidwell and Minnesota House Majority Leader Marty Seifert. The Republicans are also hoping to bring in Norm Coleman and possibly Governor Tim Pawlenty.

The College Republicans sponsored their first event yesterday, the 9-11 Never Forget Project, with the powerful memorial of 3,000 American flags and an evening vigil. The College Democrats sponsored a rally for Senate candidate Al Franken on Saturday, September 6, as a part of Franken’s tour of college campuses around the state. Over 100 students showed up to see him speak.

“I think [students] are going to play a big role,” said Al Franken after Saturday’s rally. “I feel the excitement on college campuses for Obama. They’re hungry for change, or they’re hungry for a different approach. What we’ve seen in the last two elections is [that] people under thirty are voting Democratic better then 60-40, and I think that is because they’ve grown up watching the Bush administration. I think they desperately want a change, so I think we’re going to have a big turnout among college kids-a big turnout for Obama and a big turnout for me and a big turnout for the DFL-ers for the state.”

“I think college students can literally turn this election,” said Tessmer. “If they choose to go out and become active and ditch the apathy that our age demographic and our generation is notorious for, we could turn the election for either side.”

Photo By: Alex Messenger