Former ASUO presidential candidate Ryan McCarrel is the new head of the College Democrats after he beat sophomore Daniel Ronan for the position Thursday.
McCarrel sneered at the idea of not only the ASUO but the very concept of leadership during his campaign for 2009-10 ASUO president, demanding a radical restructuring of student government in which students would have voted directly to allocate budgets to student groups via the Internet. During one debate during the election season, he called the idea of leadership antiquated.
However, the junior said his comments were aimed specifically at the ASUO.
“The Democratic Party inspires hope in people,” he said. “We still believe in the Democratic Party. I just don’t think that people believe that about the ASUO.”
To McCarrel, the ASUO and the College Democrats are not comparable organizations. “There are, in Oregon, I would guess about 1.5 million registered Democrats,” he said. “For each one of those people, it’s a personal thing. I don’t think that students have a personal connection to the ASUO.”
McCarrel said, however, that the Democratic party itself has no stance on the ASUO. The college group is an affiliate of the national and statewide Democratic parties that recruits and campaigns on the University campus.
As the head of the group, McCarrel said he will seek to increase the profile of the group by connecting students with volunteer opportunities and internships, registering voters and bringing high-profile speakers.
He also said he wants to start a blog for the group that would compete with the conservative Oregon Commentator’s blog. “I think that the Oregon Commentator is very successful,” McCarrel said. “I think that we would like to mimic its success, but from a Democratic viewpoint.”
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