The St. John’s University chapter of College Democrats canvassed for President Obama’s campaign in Pennsylvania and Ohio yesterday, the latter being a key battleground state that eventually decided the election.
College Democrats returned from Pennsylvania on Tuesday after numerous trips to take residents to polling places. On previous trips, the group rallied support and registered residents from all over Pennsylvania to vote.
“It was awesome,” said College Democrats President Erin Kennedy about the organization’s visits to Pennsylvania. “Some polling places saw record turnouts and it was cool to see people encouraging other people to go out and vote, it was a great environment.”
While the House of Representatives remained under control of the Republican Party, College Democrats Treasurer Luis
Quinones hoped that the Senate remained in the hands of the Democrats.
“The Senate is probably going to stay blue thanks to Republicans not being able to stay away from controversy, specifically comments on rape and women’s rights,” said Quinones. “As far as a Republican House affecting Obama goes, I think it depends on what conservatives want to do. If they can keep the anger going against Obama by voting no on everything he keeps putting
forward it will.”
On a trip to Pennsylvania on Sept. 22, the Obama campaign office was so impressed with the efforts put forth by St. John’s College Democrats that they invited them to go to Pennsylvania with them for all future events, an organization official said.
The College Democrats’ hard work on the road was motivated mainly by the importance of this year’s presidential election.
“This election is everything,” said Kennedy. “The decision that will be made is going to be the decision that will be felt
throughout the country for decades to come.”
“Before we were in two wars, we had an economy that was collapsing rapidly, and there seemed to be no recovery in sight,” added Quinones. “President Obama has fixed all of that, has shown an extraordinary amount of leadership over the past four years and he has shown that he is the person we need leading this country.”
Flyers promoting the organization are visible all over campus and they hold multiple events every week, including debates with St. John’s College Republicans and Libertarians. Students are always urged to join and updates on meetings are continuously posted on the group’s Facebook and Twitter page, @stjdems. A spokesperson for College Democrats stated, “College Democrats is a place where students who think the same way and are passionate can meet and discuss issues.”
Quinones added that even though the regular college student usually leans left and that New York is a historically liberal state, College Democrats would always like new members to join.
“I definitely think that the voices of liberal students should be heard around campus and I would encourage any student who wishes to do that to join College Democrats,” said Quinones
Additional reporting by Peter Long, Entertainment Editor
