Two slates whose presidential candidates were eliminated in ASUO primary elections announced the formation of a coalition with independent executive candidates Emma Kallaway and Getachew Kassa on Sunday. The True Blue Student Coalition and Students First slates cited shared values and the need for “ethical leadership” in backing their former rivals.
The slates will continue to operate individual campaigns and will wear their respective colors, True Blue spokesperson Curtis Haley said.
Kallaway and Kassa also endorsed True Blue and Students First candidates in the general election.
“Though our individual campaigns will remain autonomous, and maintain all their original beliefs and platform ideas, we have agreed to work together to help elect the respective candidates from each group,” the candidates wrote in a statement.
The statement listed three “values” shared by the slates and the executive ticket: “ethical leadership,” “broad representation of students” and “prioritizing student concerns.”
“We believe the way you campaign reflects how you’ll govern if elected,” the campaigns wrote. “You deserve leaders who know what’s right and act accordingly.”
During last week’s executive candidates debate, several candidates questioned the ethics of the Oregon Action Team slate and its presidential candidate Michelle Haley.
“I believe that if you were to look at me personally and my leadership experience thus far, I don’t think anyone has ever questioned whether I’ve acted ethically or morally within the ASUO,” Michelle Haley responded Sunday evening. She said the other campaigns have made no effort “to discuss any questions they’ve had of my campaign.”
Some tactics used by the True Blue campaign will not continue during the general election, Kallaway and Kassa’s campaign manager Alison Fox and Curtis Haley said.
Fox said students are more interested in what her candidates represent than “if they have received a handout or have been contacted in a way where they didn’t want to be contacted.” Several students complained of unsolicited phone calls and e-mails from the True Blue campaign during primary voting.
“We’re primarily going to be focusing on contacts we have with people,” Curtis Haley said. He implied such communications could have helped True Blue last week. “There’s lots of stuff we could have focused on earlier. We were not always as organized as we wanted to be; we were not always as effective as we wanted to be.” He said True Blue, whose executive candidates Nick Schultz and Lidiana Soto finished third with 624 votes, did not emphasize campaigning to students through affiliations such as campus programs.
The joint statement argued the campaigns represent a broad range of students. “Our campaigns are made up of people from many different groups – from Greek Life to the Survival Center.”
Nick Gower, who ran for vice president with Students First, said he supports Kallaway but predicted many of his voters from the Greek system might not. “Just under half or just over half (of those who voted for Students First) were Greeks. Most of those are not going to be transferable to Emma and Getachew. Most are going to go to Oregon Action Team.”
Independent candidates Ryan McCarrel and Ian Baldwin were not included in the statement because their campaign has ended, Fox said. McCarrel and Baldwin issued a separate endorsement of Kallaway and Kassa on Sunday evening, pledging their “unwavering support.”
Fox said Kallaway and Kassa have turned to family members to raise more money for their campaign, and have put in an order for an additional 200 T-shirts. She could not estimate the number of volunteers Kallaway and Kassa would gain from the coalition.
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Slates endorse Kallaway, Kassa to push ‘ethical leadership’
Daily Emerald
April 12, 2009
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