Over 140 years ago, Oberlin College chose Abraham Lincoln as its candidate for the presidency. This past Sunday, students, professors and parents took part in this Oberlin tradition by voting for Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson at the Democratic Mock Convention.

Spirits were light as professors and faculty played eight of the democratic candidates. They gave speeches and answered questions posed by moderator Mark Naymik of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Later, as balloons rained down on the audience, the Oberlin College Democrats announced Richardson as the winner, with Connecticut senator Chris Dodd as runner up. You may or may not see these candidates on the ballot next November, however, as Oberlin has rarely guessed right since nominating the Great Emancipator.

“The professors and faculty who played the candidates were the best. They really got into it and did a great job being the candidates while at the same time poking fun at them,” said Namrata Kolachalam, senior consultant to OC Dems and one of the lead organizers of the event. While speaking on their platforms, the candidates never missed a chance for a laugh at their own or another candidate’s expense.

“I’d like to thank my campaign manager’s manager, Bill,” said Marci Alegant as New York senator Hillary Clinton, later saying, “I’m sorry, I’d like to say I’ll be brief, but I won’t.”

Politics Professor Harlan Wilson nailed the South Carolina accent and made a point to keep his hair out of his eyes as John Edwards. While Philosophy Professor Tim Hall, as Mike Gravel, admitted that his entire platform rested on his being from Alaska. History Professor Steven Volk, as the victorious Bill Richardson, to the crowd’s delight, used every chance he had to reiterate that he is, in fact, a Mexican American.

Throughout the afternoon, there were many mentions of Dennis Kucinich’s brush with UFOs; North Eastern Ohio Political and Field Director Brian Royer, as Delaware Senator Joe Biden, thanked Kucinich for “beaming down from his mothership” to attend the convention. Politics Professor Ben Schiff, as Kucinich, responded to other candidate’s criticism that there was something “unworldly about [his] candidacy” by saying, “In Washington...truth is often an Unidentified Flying Object.”

Politics Professor Michael Parkin, as Dodd, was by far the crowd favorite. He showed up with his “Dodd Squad” of students and his own costumed Secret Service. West Lecture Hall went wild when Parkin called for “the immediate decriminalization of marijuana.” To the unsurprisingly massive response, he added quickly, “I thought you might like that,” which sent the room into laughs.

 For those unfamiliar with the candidates, Sunday proved informative as well as amusing. The students who turned up at noon for the free lunch received papers about the candidates’ positions on key issues and a chance to share their opinions. “There’s already more political discussion going on here than at the actual conventions,” Naymik stated.

In their speeches, the candidates all gave their credentials for president. Many spoke on the war in Iraq and described their numerous-point plans for withdrawal. They also spoke on various environmental measures, calling for a dramatic reduction of carbon emissions to curb global warming. Public health care, women’s rights, immigration and restoring Constitutional rights were also heavily discussed.

“I really enjoyed getting to hear the positions of the candidate’s who don’t get much play in the media,” said Gabriela Baker, a College first-year, “All I ever hear about are Clinton, Obama and Edwards.”

After listening to the candidates, students moved to the atrium and broke up into state delegations to decide the nomination. The voting process was a little haphazard, said the students.

“People switched states in between rounds, and the person tallying the votes did so way too soon, before the voted-out candidates had even endorsed, so that campaign managers didn’t get to vote and people didn’t get any chance to discuss,” noted Stephanie Zable, College senior and treasurer of the OC Democrats.

“I was surprised that two of the three major candidates, Obama and Clinton, were knocked out before the final round of voting, and none of the three, Edwards being the third, were picked as the nominee,” said Brendan Kelley, OC ’07, who is now coordinator for Ohio’s Students for Barack Obama.

College sophomore Brett Foreman, the Oberlin coordinator of Students for Obama, offered an explanation as to why none of the front-runners made it to the final round. “The reasons for low support were obvious; people supported an edgy performance over issues. I think it’s safe to say that isn’t representative of the real polls — but then, this is Oberlin.”

Everybody who attended agreed that the convention was a huge success. “It was tremendously well-organized, thought-provoking and a lot of fun,” said Parkin. “I think that students, faculty and even parents in town for the weekend had a great time and learned a lot about this year’s Democratic candidates.”

And that, after all, was the main goal.