With the New Hampshire primary just two weeks away, student campaign groups across campus are laying their plans for the final push into the official 2000 election season.
Most organizations intend to continue activities such as canvassing, phone banking, and literature drops that they have been doing since last spring.
On Feb. 1, the day of the New Hampshire primary, several groups plan to help insure their candidates' supporters get to the polls by telephoning them, and also by providing transportation for those who need it as well.
Supporters of Vice President Al Gore, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, and Arizona Senator John McCain are all looking forward to visits from important figures in their respective campaigns between now and the primary.
McCain will be on campus to speak with students on Jan. 24, partly in recognition of the large amount of work that Dartmouth students have done for his campaign, according to event organizers.
Students will also have the chance to meet Tipper Gore tomorrow morning. She will be talking with students in the 1930s Room in Rockefeller Center beginning at 11 a.m.
On Thursday, Barbara Bush will be making a stop at the Lebanon airport to speak with supporters of her son. In addition Rob Portman, a congressman from Ohio, will be on campus tomorrow, when he will speak in support of Gov. Bush at Alpha Theta fraternity.
Supporters of McCain and Democratic candidate Bill Bradley expressed excitement about the significance a win in New Hampshire could have for their candidates, both of whom are now in the lead according to a Dartmouth-Associated Press poll released Sunday.
Wins in New Hampshire will give the two men, considered underdogs to win their parties' nomination, momentum heading into the other primaries, organization leaders said.
Gore and Bush supporters, however, emphasized the fact that the race remains extremely tight. Both were confident that their candidate will come out the winner on Feb. 1.
Although only 11 percent of respondents indicated they would vote for Forbes in Sunday's poll, his supporters also remained optimistic.
"We're pretty confident that we can take at least a couple of states," Matt Raymer '03, Forbes' director of recruitment on campus said.
Many who have participated in one of the political organizations expressed satisfaction with the impact that students were able to make over the past year.
"Whatever the vote count is after Feb. 1, I really feel like Dartmouth students have made a big difference in the state," said Dartmouth for Bradley Coordinator Scott Given '02.
Some students involved in the campaign also said that their work with the political process over the last year made an impact on them.
"For the first time in my life, I was really inspired by a candidate," McCain campus chair Collin O'Mara '01 said.
Other organization leaders said they have enjoyed watching students who have never participated in politics become involved in the campaign.
"With just a little exposure up close, people really do get motivated to help," Given said.
The Young Democrats organization is already taking steps to unify the Gore and Bradley campaigns in preparation for the general presidential election next November.
"We don't see a lot of point in being adversarial," co-coordinator of the Dartmouth Gore campaign Brian Stults '02 said.
Bob Gienko '01, member of the executive board of the Conservative Union at Dartmouth, agreed.
"There is no animosity between us," he said.
Gienko indicated CUAD is working on bringing conservative speakers to campus in an effort to focus attention on the issues in the campaign rather than the individual Republican candidates.
Student organizations supporting the presidential hopefuls have been active on the Dartmouth campus for nearly a year now.
During that time, Dartmouth political groups have been making appearances at their candidates' events across New Hampshire as well as in Massachusetts and Vermont to show support and increase visibility.
Many organizations held rallies during the nationally televised town meetings that took place in October and also participated in the Youth Forum in Manchester earlier this month.
Another one of the main focuses of the political organizations on campus, including the Young Democrats and CUAD, is to encourage students to vote.
Accordingly, they have teamed up with Women in Politics to help students register to vote in New Hampshire or in their home state.
The registration drive will take place in the Collis Center tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
