MICHAEL FRENCH
Staff Writer
Pepperdine’s College Republicans are gearing up for the primary election season, which begins in earnest this spring.
Riding on the heals of last year’s presidential and congressional victories, the College Republicans are enthusiastically ready to step up to the plate again this year and let the university know they are here to make a difference.
Many of the seats that were open in last year’s elections were claimed by Republican candidates at all governmental levels. George Bush, the senate, the House of Representatives, Gubernatorial elections, county and local elections were nabbed in large part by Republicans.
With the successive presidential victories, some Republicans are concerned about a voter backlash. Steven Sharpe, a Pepperdine sophomore, believes Republicans “are not going to get very many votes this time around.” Anxiety over the Iraq War, and scandals involving Republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C., may present opportunities for Democrats.
But the College Republicans are out to disprove that notion.
Clayton Carter, a sophomore and an active member of the College Republicans, is definitely looking forward to this year. The calendar should be extremely crowded, with for the College Republicans will do that will have to go along with their mission is substantial, to educate students on politics and to promote the republican agenda. This year the President of the club is Katie Vaughan.
The College Republicans participated in a number of on and off campus events that were felt throughout the community, The College Republicans, one of the largest groups on campus, with more than 300 members, is involved in political activities both at Pepperdine and in the surrounding community. Last year, besides helping students register to vote, the College Republicans also sponsored, in part, the presidential debate viewings. The club also worked on other, more local campaigns, such as the ones for Bill Jones, who ran for U.S. Senate, and Heather Peters, who is ran for State Assembly.
Members of the College Republicans will look to continue working with other Republican groups in the community, including the Malibu Republican Women’s Club as well as the Malibu Republicans Club. In addition the College Republicans will look to work with the Malibu Republicans Club by volunteering at the group’s headquarters. Club members said they want to reach outside of the Pepperdine community and become more involved with the College Republicans on the regional, state, and even national levels.
The College Republicans even hosted a question and answer session last year with Kenneth Starr, dean and professor of law at the Pepperdine School of Law. The focus of Starr’s discussion was the election and the qualities that make Bush the best choice for president. He encouraged Republicans to always be ready to give an answer as to why they believe what they believe and why they are part of the party of Abraham Lincoln.
The purpose of the College Republicans is to demonstrate the importance of politics in society while emphasizing the need for conservative values according to Dr. John Jones, professor of Communication and advisor to the College Republicans, he also said the club works to get more voters registered, to promote conservative ideas, to encourage Republicans and to reach out to dependent and undecided voters.
To facilitate Pepperdine students in the voting process, the College Republicans have mentioned setting up voter registration tables on campus. Members emphasized the importance of voting while providing students with registration forms and voting information. They also registered students with disregard to party affiliation. Of course the College Republicans said they would like everyone to vote for Bush, but their main goal is just to get students to vote.
The members of the College Republicans are concerned about voting, even more than they are about the candidates. Getting students to vote is their No. 1 priority, because most people decide party affiliation when they are between the ages of 18 and 24.
Although the College republicans have a lot of momentum coming into the school year they did lose some valuable members such as, Paris Denard who championed all things GOP. He debated against the College Republicans liberal Counter Parts, The young Democrats in last years debate put on in conjunction with the debate team. The loss of he and others like him present a real challenge and an even greater opportunity according to Carter. “We have to step up” Carter said.
There is a lot of work to be done by the college republicans, but with new student leadership and guidance from current faculty advisor Dr. John Jones, the College republicans seem more ready than ever to make their presence on campus felt in a big way, and to continue their current hot streak of Republican successes.
12-15-2005