Jim Rich '96 won Tuesday'sStudent Assemblypresidential election because he mobilized the majority of the Dartmouth student body --white, Greek and politically moderate. Rich appealed not to the left, not to the right, but to Dartmouth.
Unlike the last two years, the election did not center around issues, it focused on people and personalities.
Rich's success --garnering 32 percent of the vote to win by 79 votes --came from the votes of students who usually did not get out to the polls.
"People who did not normally vote did vote and voted for someone they identified with," third-place finisher Brandon del Pozo '96 said.
In electing Rich and Vice President-elect Kelii Opulauoho '96 --two students who have never served on the Assembly -- students voted for "regular mainstream Dartmouth students ... who would do what they would do if they were in their positions," said Jim Brennan '96.
Brennan dropped out of the presidential race late last term.
Brennan said neither Rich nor Opulauoho "smacked of any sort of political involvement or involvement in Student Assembly in the past," which made them more attractive to students.
Campus leaders said it was not Rich's platform so much as his personality that garnered so many votes. About 1,750 students voted, a significant increase from last year.
"In bringing out the voters, he did the best," Assembly Vice President John Honovich '97 said. "He brought more people to the polls than anyone else."
Del Pozo said Rich, a brother of Alpha Delta fraternity, received strong support from a number of large Greek houses and used his connections as member of the men's tennis team to mobilize support from other Dartmouth athletic teams.
Honovich said it was easier for Rich to gather support because "a lot of his voters were geographically distributed in one place -- the fraternities."
Del Pozo and second place finisher Phil Ferrera '96, though both fraternity brothers, were not as successful in mobilizing the Greek vote, Honovich said.
Ferrera's platform, based on women's and minority issues, "was different to what the normal fraternity brother would support," Honovich said.
And del Pozo's house,Kappa Chi Kappa fraternity, is one of the smaller Greek houses, while AD is one of the largest houses on campus.
The presidential race was not completely devoid of issues, but the issues failed to capture students' attention.
"The future of nothing was in the balance," del Pozo said.
Class of 1995 Vice President Hosea Harvey said, compared to previous years, this year's campaign was "low key."
But this year, the candidates all had somewhat similar platforms.
"In this election, there is no particular explanation as to why one candidate developed the following that he did," Harvey added.
Conservative Union at Dartmouth President Bill Hall '96 said he thought few students looked beyond the rhetoric to examine candidates' platforms.
"Voters voted mainly on a perception of the issues," but did not look to see if those issues were "workable" or "realistic," Hall said.
A factor in students' voting may have been choosing a presidential candidate who was not ideologically connected with either campus liberals or conservatives.
General Assembly member BillKartalopoulos '97 said "People might have just looked for noncontroversial leaders."
Kartalopoulos said Ferrera's association with Assembly President Rukmini Sichitiu '95 and the "liberal crowd" alienated some voters, as may have del Pozo's former association with the Assembly.
Opulauoho said his decimation of the other vice presidential candidates in Tuesday's election was a result of his extensive "grass-roots connections." Opulauoho received 753 votes, more than 400 more than his closest competitor.
The future
Although Opulauoho and Rich ran on distinctly different platforms, both have said they will work hard to get along.
Rich and Opulauoho "can either conflict or complement one another -- it's entirely up to them," Kartalopoulos said.
"I think the people within the Assembly understand the Assembly has problems too," Rich said. "I think they're willing to work with the reforms I want to make, so I hope they're willing to work with me."
But some Assembly members say Rich may have a difficult time dealing with his Assembly.
"Jim has a lot of hard work ahead of him," del Pozo said. "Jim has no support on the Assembly. A lot of people on the Assembly just don't like Jim."
Del Pozo said about half of the Assembly supported him and the other half supported Ferrera.
The general Assembly members "are all professionals," del Pozo said. He said they are "suspicious about being led by someone who has never served on the Assembly."
