If all politics are local, then why do Northwestern students find local politics so boring?
“It’s completely uninteresting, and I really don’t care,” Weinberg sophomore Matt Braslow said. “I don’t see how any of it can make any actual difference for me. I feel like they don’t affect me at all.”
Primary elections for many state and local offices, including the Illinois governorship and the Cook County Board presidency, are scheduled for March 21. In the face of campus apathy, a handful of students are using the upcoming contests to inspire interest and activism in local politics.
Ryan Erickson, a member of College Democrats, said local politics might lack national media coverage, but they are “crucially important.”
“People tend to dismiss local politics because they don’t think it is significant,” said Erickson, a Weinberg freshman. “But in some respects local politics have more significance than national politics, especially in terms of health care and prison powers.”
But prescription drug costs and prison maintenance might not be enough to drive NU students to the polls.
David Cooling of the Democratic Party of Evanston said he is trying to find new ways to reach out to campuses around Chicago.
“We had some kids from College Democrats knock on some doors, make some calls and pass out literature at El stations,” said Cooling, the campaign manager for Debra Shore, who is running for a commissioner position at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. The agency is charged with protecting Lake Michigan’s water quality.
Cooling said he’s still aiming to capture student votes by emphasizing social issues over party politics.
“Everybody cares about the environment,” he said, “and we want to show why the position is so important in terms of protecting waterways.”
But in a liberal town like Evanston, finding Republican students can be hard enough without getting their vote. Ellen L. Schrodt of Evanston Republicans said she had not recently contacted College Republicans to coordinate local campaign efforts.
“It’s hard to get acquainted with (the College Republican leaders) if they’re changing every two years,” said Schrodt, the Evanston Republican Committeeman.
Communication Studies Prof. Peter Miller, an expert on campaign strategies, said he’s not surprised local party affiliates are struggling to get out the student vote.
Students tend to be unreliable voters, and “campaigns deliberately do not go after people who they don’t think will support them,” he said. Especially in a “Democratic bastion” like Evanston, Miller added it was “pretty unlikely” for Republican campaigns to spend lots of money on the student vote.
Dan Valencia, a member of NU College Republicans, said although he votes in local contests, the group does not emphasize local elections at its meetings.
“Evanston is more of a Democratic area, and I don’t think our involvement would make that much of a difference,” said Valencia, a Weinberg senior. “College Democrats has more manpower and more sway in the community.”
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