Red, White and Blue All Over the Green
FORMER ALASKA SENATOR Mike Gravel was a big name in the 1960s and 1970s because of his anti-Vietnam War activities—including his release of the Pentagon Papers. Thirty-five years later, though, many Americans have no idea who he is, let alone that he's running to be the Democratic nominee for U.S. president. When Gravel visited Dartmouth in early January, however, he spoke before a gathering of 80 in the Hinman Forum.
"He looked at the group of people and said, 'This is the biggest crowd I've ever had in New Hampshire!' " Adam Patinkin 'O7 recalls. Patinkin, the former president of Dartmouth College Democrats (DCD) and the current president of the New Hampshire State Federation of College Democrats, lives for politics. With the primaries approaching, he is downright giddy.
Since January Patinkin and the DCD have organized eight events for Democratic presidential candidates at Dartmouth. And almost every event has attracted the candidates largest audience in New Hampshire to date. Patinkin lists some of the numbers off on his fingers: 450 people came to see Joe Biden, 500 attended Bill Richardson's speech and nearly 1,000 saw John Edwards. Denis Kucinich and Chris Dodd both spoke to crowds of 150. Barack Obama spoke to a crowd of 5,000 on Memorial Day. And, of course, 80 turned up for the unknown Gravel.
"The College Dems have done so much this year already
it almost boggles my mind," Patinkin says.
Another student group, the Dartmouth College Republicans (DCR), has been active, too. Mitt Romney spoke at DMHC, and both U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (California) and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) have visited the campus. Gregory Boguslavsky '09, president of the College Republicans, reports that the DCR communicates regularly with all Republican candidates' campaigns and is busy recruiting candidates to visit Hanover.
"Our goal is to provide the Dartmouth community with as many appearances as possible in order to provide a sense of the Republican primary field," Boguslavsky says. "We're coordinating extensively right now with several campaigns for upcoming Dartmouth visits."
In addition to organizing events for Republican presidential hopefuls, the DCR also hosted the New Hampshire College Republicans Convention at the Hanover Inn on May 4.
The general consensus between College Democrats and College Republicans is that for politically minded students, Dartmouth is the place to be during the presidential primary season.
It's not just that those eyeing the White House flock to New Hampshire, says Patinkin. When candidates speak at Dartmouth they often meet with the volunteers from DCD and DCR afterwards in smaller meetand-greet sessions, where students can pose questions, discuss issues and get to know the campaigners in a more intimate setting.
This can be beneficial to candidates as well as students. Nearly 80 percent of eligible Dartmouth students voted in last year's midterm elections—and 60 percent voted in New Hampshire. Since then potential candidates have viewed the student body as a treasure trove of primary votes.
Even failed 2004 campaigners Howard Dean and John Kerry made classroom appearances during spring term. "It's a really exciting time to be at Dartmouth," Patinkin says.
OVERHEARD
"After a hard-fought contest of ideas, alumni have elected another independent trustee. Democracy works at Dartmouth, and the College is all the stronger for it. -NEWLY ELECTED TRUSTEE STEPHEN SMITH '88
