The New Hampshire primary sparked debate among students and faculty at New Hampshire institutions of higher education regarding the importance of the Republican student vote in this year's presidential election, USA Today reported. Assistant government professor Joseph Bafumi argued that college campuses are too liberal to be significant to a current Republican candidate, USA Today reported. Others believe that the student vote is neither excessively liberal nor insignificant to Republicans. College Republicans President J.P. Harrington '14 said that many students have become increasingly conservative because they are disappointed with United States President Barack Obama's performance, especially with regard to the economy. Approximately 44 percent of New Hampshire residents between 18 and 29 years old identified themselves as independents in 2008 exit polls, according to Tuft University's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., is now facing accusations from his fellow candidates that his wealth has come at the price of U.S. jobs, National Public Radio reported on Wednesday. Romney worked for many years at Bain Capital, a private equity firm that buys companies with potential and seeks to increase their market value. In some cases, private equity money benefits companies by catalyzing growth and creating jobs. However, according to Colin Blaydon, head of the Tuck Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth, sometimes increasing the worth of a company involves cost-cutting, which can harm individual workers, NPR reported. Whether Romney's actions have hurt workers will be a particularly debated issue in South Carolina, where the unemployment rate is close to 10 percent and where former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., may spend millions of dollars on anti-Romney advertisements, according to NPR.
Government professor Jennifer Lind discussed the current state of North Korea following the death of its former leader, Kim Jong-il, and the appointment of his son Kim Jong-un as successor, in the Wednesday installment of a New Atlanticist Podcast Series hosted by Atlantic Council senior fellow Sarwar Kashmeri. According to Lind, there is cause for optimism because Kim Jong-un has had experience in the West having attended boarding school in Switzerland and may thus be more open to dialogue with the West. She also said she believes it possible that Kim Jong-un will follow directly in his father's footprints. Lind stressed that America must proceed cautiously with regard to North Korea because of the uncertainty surrounding the direction the country will take. She urged U.S. leaders to look for signs of openness and to seek communication with the North Korean government, particularly about denuclearization.
