OC
Democrats Get Students Voting
By Rachel
Decker
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, hundreds of Oberlin College
students traveled to First Church, the public library and Prospect
Elementary School to vote. Yet the prominent Democratic voice of
Oberlin College was not enough to raise Obie-endorsed officials
into office.
Founder and President of the Oberlin College Democrats Matt Kaplan
and his organization of over a dozen students worked tirelessly
this semester, strongly encouraging college students to vote and
campaigning for local as well as state Democratic candidates such
as Tim Hagan, Sue Morano and Marcy Kaptur. Although the campaigns
were unsuccessful, Kaplan was pleased with the efforts of the OC
Democrats. “It wasn’t a great night for the party per
se, but it was a great night for us,” he stated. “We
worked very hard and are proud of the job we did.”
The Republican Party won all local elections as well as the majority
of the House and Senate.
The most disappointing loss was that of senatorial candidate Sue
Morano to Republican Thomas Armbuster by approximately 500 votes.
“We probably helped Morano in the hundreds,” stated
Kaplan. “Sue lost by just over one-half of one percent and
pending the provisional and absentee votes there will most likely
be an automatic recount. There is the possibility that she could
still come out on top.”
Especially appealing in Morano to the OC Democrats were her views
on labor activism. Much of what she endorsed correlates with the
current labor and layoff dilemmas now facing the College. “There
is definitely a lot of labor strife on campus,” Kaplan said.
“Morano would have given that labor a voice in Columbus and
would have provided workers with an ally in Columbus. An ally which
working families need to defend their rights.”
Of College students indifferent to the election, Kaplan stated,
“Anyone who says their vote doesn’t count needs take
a look at the small margin of votes which decided the local races.”
OC Democrat member sophomore Becca Kenna-Schenk was also frustrated
by the apathy shown by some students and the belief that their vote
has no impact. “Morano is a very obvious example that that’s
not true,” she said. “It’s frustrating when the
outcome could have been changed by Oberlin students.”
The OC Democrats, in their effort to get the vote out, registered
275 students to vote, dropped mass amounts of literature on campus,
in the town of Oberlin and throughout Lorain County and poll-watched
at the various voting locations accessible by students. “Over
the last two and a half months, we spent countless hours going door
to door, sign waving, putting up posters, calling voters and spending
all day Tuesday at the polls in the rain,” said Kaplan.
“[The election] was the end of a hard fought battle for our
club,” stated Kaplan. “On Nov. 6, at least the OC Democrats
could say that we stood up for the values which we believe in and
fought the best fight we could. Instead of mourning the loss on
election night, we will be organizing for the next election, we
will be preparing a response on our nation’s swing towards
the right.”
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