While approximately half of students interviewed by The Dartmouth expressed interest in the upcoming presidential elections, a large percentage of students reported feeling disgruntled with the choice of presidential candidates.
"It's like picking the best between two evils," said Vangie Wiles '02. "I can't see myself voting for [George W.] Bush and [Dick] Cheney," she said, "because they're two old white men. But neither [of the presidential candidates] are very exciting choices. [Al] Gore makes a lot of promises that theoretically sound good but don't have a plan of action."
Aly Rahim '02, who actively participated in the primary speeches and rallies held at Dartmouth College in November of last year, said that some students may find neither Bush nor Gore "representative."
Rahim said that a large number of students, on the other hand, rallied around presidential candidates John McCain and Bill Bradley. "The response was tremendous," Rahim said. "These two candidates were really able to rally young people."
Many students attributed students' lack of political awareness to inaccessible cable connections on campus, as well as the lack of political discussions among students.
"I used to keep up with [politics] a lot better," said Lara Santiago '03. "I just turned on CNN when I came home or flipped on the TV before school."
She made a comparison to a popular and common source of news at Dartmouth, the Internet. "Having TV is passive. You can be doing other stuff."
Santiago also noted "Dartmouth is not a very politically active campus, like Berkeley or something." She added, however, that she knows many people at the College who like to keep up with current events and take an active interest.
Peter Goodson '02, who said he was up to date on current political events and issues, said he liked the infrequency of political discussions among Dartmouth students.
"As good as it is [to discuss politics]," Goodson said, "[not discussing politics] keeps things nice and light and fun instead of getting heavy."
Goodson, who said he comes from a politically active family and frequently talks with his parents about political issues, as opposed to discussing them with other students, added that while not his first choice, he prefers Bush to Gore.
"Bush is socially as liberal as they get," said Goodson. "He has to take an anti-abortion stance but he's not going to appoint any supreme court justices" in line with that. "Once he gets in office he isn't going to start messing with issues."
While many people have expressed concern with the nomination of Cheney, who some consider to be right-wing, Goodson said he felt that, "Cheney allows [Bush] to be more liberal and still win Republican votes."
He added that he thinks Gore "is a puppet of the teacher's union, which won't let education progress ... He believes in all the wrong things."
