With the party primaries for the 2000 presidential elections rapidly approaching, some Dartmouth students spent the Fourth of July weekend showing their support for a favorite candidate.
For these students, politics is more than a spectator sport and they spent the weekend at campaign rallies and parades in southern New Hampshire.
Students joined other campaign volunteers from across the state in handing out campaign literature, stickers, balloons and candy promoting the presidential candidates.
At the College, two organizations - the Conservative Union at Dartmouth, which supports mainly Republicans, and the Young Democrats, sent student groups to these events.
Although these organizations do not support any of the primary candidates in particular, many members actively endorse a favorite contender.
Paul Biggs '01, the president of CUAD, is also the Dartmouth campus director for Republican Steve Forbes' campaign. He and other Forbes supporters helped out at parades in Manchester and Amherst on Sunday.
Biggs acts as the Dartmouth contact for the campaign and keeps a running tally of students interested in Forbes' candidacy. The other Forbes campus director is Jessica Mather '01.
Forbes will be visiting the College, tentatively early next term, Biggs said.
Biggs also said he hopes one of the five proposed policy debates between George W. Bush and Forbes will be held at Dartmouth. However these debates, a Forbes initiative, seem highly unlikely at this moment, Biggs said.
Biggs spent last term in Washington, D.C. on the Government Foreign Study Program working in the Forbes' campaign national headquarters. As part of his training for the campus director position, he attended sessions sponsored by the D.C.-based Leadership Institute, a renowned political teaching institute. Biggs is also involved at a state-level with the national College Republicans organization and according to him, compared to other states, college students in New Hampshire and at Dartmouth are generally more politically apathetic.
Biggs said he believes this is due to the fact that most students at Dartmouth are not from New Hampshire.
"The one really good way of getting involved with politics is to get involved with local politics," Biggs said.
Biggs first became involved with national Republican campaigns by working for his state senator James West while at the Washington state capital in Olympia.
"Here, because most people are not local residents, they only get interested in national campaigns," he said. "That's why for both the Republicans and the Democrats, involvement is very up and down." Former Student Assembly President Josh Green '00 has organized a group in support for Vice-President Al Gore's efforts at the Presidency.
"I was really impressed by his focus on education and the environment," Green said. "I also think the Clinton-Gore economy is a strong selling point."
Green and a small group of students handed out Gore balloons over the weekend in Amherst and Merrimack.
Although Green has not yet had an opportunity to meet his candidate, he said he hopes that working on his campaign will give him the opportunity to meet Gore.
Kelly Grieco '01 is the president of the Dartmouth for Dole effort. She and others who support Republican Elizabeth Dole's candidacy also attended the parades in Amherst and Merrimack.
"People at Dartmouth have been very enthusiastic about her," said Grieco. "Once students organize events, they act as a catalyst and others become involved."
According to Grieco, Dole plans to visit the College twice next term - once to give a speech and another to spend time at Delta Delta Delta sorority, of which she is a member.
Grieco, a government major, said working on the campaign has been a real learning experience, as she plans eventually to work as a consultant for political campaigns.
She also spent last summer working for Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Joe Malone.
Groups of students have also been organized in support of other candidacies.
Scott Given '02, co-president of the Young Democrats is heading up the effort for the Bill Bradley campaign on campus.
CUAD Vice President Bob Gienko '01 is the campus contact for the George W. Bush campaign. Other Republican contender John Kasich is supported by Ryan Clark '01 and Chris Bowen '02 has organized efforts for former Vice-President Dan Quayle.
