With the countdown to Election Day now complete, the political atmosphere at the University has swelled to an almost combustible state. Some are excited. Some are ecstatic. Some may not care. But almost everyone has some sort of opinion as to which direction America should go and who should lead us there.
Oregon State University junior Kyle Imholte said the country is so polarized in the race between the two major campaigns that get-out-the-vote efforts have become almost marathon-like.
“Whoever is able to get the most people on their side to go out and vote is going to win,” Imholte said.
Imholte, a member of the College Republicans, will be joining University junior Anthony Warren, state executive director for the College Republicans, and other members in Portland today to help with get-out-the-vote efforts in Oregon’s most populated area — Multnomah County.
Warren said President Bush’s supporters will be canvassing and making phone calls all day to ensure every Republican vote reaches the ballot box by the 8 p.m. deadline.
College Democrats are using similar tactics. Many participated in a massive canvassing effort this past weekend sponsored by the pro-John Kerry group Carry Oregon.
“Young people in this election have been critical,” Carry Oregon volunteer D’Ann Atkinson said.
Many Carry Oregon volunteers will be spending Election Day on the phone with voters in Hawaii, Pennsylvania and the other hotly contested swing states.
“We’re weaving our efforts into the other states because most people have already voted by that day,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson said the surge of student volunteers that started in the summer did not falter once school started. He added that while momentum has not slowed for either side since the first presidential debate, no one will be disappointed to see the campaign come to a close.
“It’s sort of settled in that the day after tomorrow it’s over and we’ve done the best we can to see this election to its conclusion and get the results we want,” Atkinson said on Sunday.
Warren agreed that everyone is looking forward to a much-needed break on Nov. 3.
“On both sides there’ll be some feeling of relief that it’s over,” Warren said. “Obviously on the winning side there’ll be more relief.”
Atkinson said Carry Oregon volunteers are “cautiously optimistic” about the race and, with time left for only last-ditch efforts, many have become a bit superstitious, citing the Green Bay Packers’ victory over Washington D.C. on Sunday as a sure-fire sign Kerry will win the election.
Every time the Packers beat Washington D.C. during a presidential election the incumbent is ousted, Atkinson said.
The way polls for swing states have been changing, Warren said it’s still possible for either candidate to have a fairly decisive victory — he said he is still confident Bush will prevail.
University junior and Carry Oregon volunteer Shannon Tarvin said the polls are not accurate portrayals of what’s really going on.
“There’s a huge demographic of students that isn’t being tapped,” she said.
Tarvin has been volunteering at the Carry Oregon ballot drop-off booth on the corner of 13th
and Kincaid.
Senior Ariel Ungerleider, also a volunteer at the booth, is one of the many voters who believes the Supreme Court will be involved in determining the winner of the presidential race.
“I don’t think there’ll be a clear winner ’til many days after the election,” Ungerleider said.
However, concerns about the possibility of court involvement are not prevalent at the Carry Oregon headquarters, Atkinson said, because most feel Kerry will win by a larger margin than polls are assuming.
“If every state is doing the job we’re doing right now, then something like that won’t be necessary,” she said.
Imholte said Republicans feel the same confidence about Bush’s chances for victory.
“I don’t think the election will be as close as people think,” Imholte said.
In 2000, the Supreme Court had to take on the task of determining the winner of the presidential race between Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore, after the Florida vote was marred by controversial recounts.
University law professor Garrett Epps said he hopes the Supreme Court will not get involved in this election.
Epps wrote an Oct. 24 editorial for the Washington Post urging the high court to stay away from the election, calling court involvement in election outcomes unnecessary.
Margie Paris, associate dean for academic affairs at the law school, said there has been a “healthy debate” between Epps and law professor Robert Tsai, who has written a piece calling for court involvement in the election if needed.
Paris said this debate has only increased the interest surrounding the elections for those in the law school.
“It’s pretty consuming right now,” she said.
Tsai said his piece, which is awaiting publication, focuses on the need for consistency on the part of the court, citing the hearing of Bush v. Gore in 2000 as a reason to remain open to the possibility of court involvement.
“If the Supreme Court is asked to take the case I think it would be unprincipled for them not to,”
Tsai said.
Epps said he hopes the election is not close enough to even warrant discussion of court involvement. He said he teaches a class until 8:30 p.m. today and plans on tuning in to election coverage soon afterward.
“If we’re lucky we’ll have an answer by then,” Epps said.