Seven members of the College Democrats traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the College Democrat National Convention where they met with Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and were even invited to the Super Bowl party of Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del. During the convention the students also learned lobbying techniques with the staff of Rep. Paul Hodes '72, D-N.H., attended leadership workshops, and met many Democratic presidential hopefuls who were in town for the Democratic National Convention Winter Summit, which coincided with the College Democrat Convention.
"Honestly, [the DNC summit] is the most important meeting before the election," Outreach Coordinator for the College Democrats David Imamura '10 said. "It allows the presidential candidates to make a good first impression. It's less a convention for us and more of a chance to see the presidential candidates."
For many of the students, a high point of the trip occurred when Clinton invited the College Democrat contingent from New Hampshire to her hotel suite. The attendees got a chance to speak with Clinton in private for fifteen minutes about important college issues such as financial aid and education funding.
"She's a very strong candidate." Tay Stevenson '10 said. "She seemed very much like she wanted to win the election. She was very assertive and it was clear that she was in it to win."
While Clinton's presidential prospects have long been a topic of widespread media attention, other candidates used this occasion to introduce themselves to the public. Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., who announced his candidacy on Jan. 20, particularly impressed the attendees.
"Bill Richardson was a big surprise," Stevenson said. "He's a strong dark-horse candidate."
Courtney Merrill '09, the vice president of the College Democrats, agreed.
"He was able to make jokes and be very personable," Merrill said. "He said, 'These are the problems facing our nation and this is what I've done as UN ambassador, Energy Secretary, and Governor of New Mexico to fix them.' He really showed how we could effect change."
On the other hand, several students registered disappointment with the early campaign mounted by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., The attendees were struck by the disorganization of his campaign and the lack of posters he had, especially compared to Clinton.
"I'm really an Obama fan." Stevenson said. "But the general consensus between all of us was that he really soiled his campaign."
Overall, the attendees felt that they had gained valuable networking experience, and had learned how to better build up their campus-wide and state organization.
"It was amazing how energetic Democrats were." Imamura said. "Its amazing how committed people were to bring back the presidency. I thought they'd be resting on their laurels, but they seem like they were really committed to winning back the presidency."
In addition to Imamura, Stevenson and Merrill, also partaking in the trip were Vanessa Sievers '10, Adam Patinkin '07, Mike Heslin '08 and Shawn Stuart '10.
