The New Hampshire primary may have come and gone, but don't expect Dartmouth campaign managers to be slowing down any time soon.
Although national news vans no longer flank the Green and the number of appearances of presidential hopefuls on campus has plummeted to zero, excitement and enthusiasm still abound in the hearts and minds of the former heads of the Dartmouth organizations supporting the major candidates in the race for the White House.
"I think participating in the campaign this fall and winter has gotten me really excited in politics in general," Scott Given '02, head of the Bill Bradley campaign on campus, said.
With Bradley having withdrawn from the Democratic Primary, Given has thrown his support to Bradley's fellow democrat, Vice President Al Gore.
"I think there was a sense among both [Democratic] campaigns that each group would converge and support the winning [Democratic] candidate," he said.
Given admits that at this point in time, the 2000 Presidential campaign is attracting little attention.
"Not too many people are following the race ... There's kind of a lull right now," he said.
Priam Dutta '02, former head of the Gore campaign on campus, agrees.
"I'm following the campaign, but I have to admit, not as closely," he said.
No longer affiliated with their respective campaigns, both Given and Dutta are currently working for the campaign to elect democrat Barney Brennan to the U.S. Congress for New Hampshire's second district.
Neither Given nor Dutta plan to attend the Democratic National Convention
Christopher Dreisbach '00, head of the Bush campaign at the College, will "most likely" be attending the Republican National Convention, as will Collin O'Mara '01, head of the campus support for John McCain.
Although McCain has withdrawn from the 2000 Presidential campaign, O'Mara, unlike Given, is reluctant to back the remaining candidate in his party's primary race.
"I'm really disappointed that Governor Bush has refused to endorse campaign finance reform and until he does I can't support his candidacy," he said.
O'Mara has kept in touch with representatives of Straight Talk America, a political action committee formed by McCain. O'Mara also recently attended rallies in Boston and New York to elect Republican candidates to Congress sponsored by the Arizona senator.
Both O'Mara and Dreisbach plan to spend their summers in New York City, participating in the much-hyped New York State Senate race between New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
