Last year, Northwestern students helped Barack Obama move from the United States Senate to the Oval Office. Now, a group of NU students is trying to keep the activist momentum going by campaigning for other candidates in local and state-wide elections.Daniel Rockoff, the vice president for programming for College Democrats, is beginning campaign efforts for Alexi Giannoulias, who is vying to fill the seat vacated by Obama.
“There was a lot of energy on campus during the Obama campaign,” Rockoff, a Communication senior, said. “Things have really slowed down, but people need to remember how important these elections are.”
Primary elections will take place Feb. 2. If Giannoulias secures the Democratic nomination, he will run against the Republican candidate in November.
Rockoff said he plans on sticking with Giannoulias’ campaign if the candidate is successful in February.
Giannoulias’ actions as the current Illinois treasurer have made him attractive to students, Rockoff said.
“He has been really helpful (in) making sure students aren’t victims of predatory loans,” he said.
SESP junior Samantha Reed , who served as the co-coordinator for Students for Obama last fall, said she is planning to campaign for Patrick Keenan-Devlin (Music and WCAS ’06), a Democratic candidate for the Illinois General Assembly.
Reed said she was interested in the campaign for personal reasons. A beneficiary of the state-funded Illinois Monetary Award Program, a grant for college students, she said she was disappointed when the program was cut from the state budget last year.
“It was easy for state governments to cut us out because (young people) don’t vote,” Reed said. “If you have to cut someone, you cut the people who aren’t going to kick you out of office.”
Despite some students’ involvement, not everyone has stayed engaged in politics, said Jonathan Forman, vice president for outreach for College Democrats. The Weinberg sophomore said he has seen a noticeable change in youth mobilization after he witnessed heavy student activism while canvassing for Obama.
“It was a unique experience because you usually don’t see people that politically engaged,” Forman said. “It was kind of a testament to what the then-senator was able to bring to people, especially young people.”
This year, there has been a substantial dip in student political participation on campus now that the presidential election is over, Forman said. His organization plans to encourage activism in upcoming elections through its Winter Quarter events, he added.
Adam Seidel, vice president of College Republicans, said the group is also planning projects this quarter.
“We spend the first few weeks of the quarter deciding which speaker to bring in, which topics we want to have that person to talk about and what other events we want to do for the quarter,” the Weinberg junior said.
Rockoff said his first priority is getting students registered to vote.
“I feel that we need new leadership, a new viewpoint in Washington,” he said.
