You’ve seen them sitting at tables near the EMU, trying to get you to sign up for their e-mail lists and become members of their Facebook pages. You may have even been to one of their meetings.
The College Democrats and College Republicans are a sort of anomaly on campus; their numbers, while small, are composed of politically active individuals.
“Politics is not the most popular hobby or pastime in college, so we are a small but passionate community,” said Ellen Macomson, president of the College Democrats. I took the opportunity to attend one of each meeting.
The College Democrats’ weekly meeting I attended was held in Willamette 112 at 6 p.m. last Tuesday. The room was medium-sized with a ring of small tables around the periphery of the room. When it was all said and done, I counted 21 people including myself and the focal point of the meeting, guest speaker and Congressman Peter DeFazio.
Everyone’s energy level was high, but none more so than Macomson, who spent a good amount of time warmly greeting everyone who came in.
There seemed to be a general sense of camaraderie in the air.
Introductions at any collegiate political gathering appear to be a norm, although they vary somewhat. At the College Democrats’ meeting, I was included in the introductions, as was Peter DeFazio. DeFazio discussed his campaign in general and then took a few questions from the students and thanked them for their time.
Of course the College Democrats don’t have a congressman come to all of their meetings, so it may be that their typical meetings are less exciting. That being said, even after DeFazio left, the meeting continued in high gear. Macomson discussed upcoming plans for a bake sale to raise funds for the group. Then the meeting shifted toward open discussion. Issues ranged from the Kitzhaber-Dudley debate to the Tea Party. The only issue is that everyone there was a Democrat, so it wasn’t a really interesting conversation.
“Students need a place to express their political views and have them heard by other interested, and perhaps like-minded, people,” Macomson said.
While this is all well and good at some level, there isn’t a whole lot of constructive conversation so much as reiterating each other’s views. This same critique holds for the College Republicans.
Their weekly meetings are held in the Rogue Room in the EMU, at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays. I was tempted to ask Jaclyn Heck, the co-director of the College Republicans, if the Rogue Room had been specifically selected as their meeting place because of the name’s connection to Sarah Palin, but I refrained in the attempt to not completely antagonize myself from the group before the meeting even got underway.
It wasn’t as if I was made to feel unwelcome. Heck was extremely kind, and apart from one individual who took it upon himself to inform everyone who entered the room (the grand total reached 10, including myself) that “someone from the Daily Emerald was here” and to “watch what they say,” I wasn’t so much lambasted as ignored. Even that individual’s remarks seemed sort of in partial jest.
The College Republicans introduced themselves in much the same manner as the College Democrats, although I was skipped over.
The Rogue Room itself is smaller than Willamette 112 but seems more professional. It is dominated by a single large table, like an executive boardroom.
The first order of business for the College Republicans was to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Because they were without a flag, a laptop displaying a JPEG of the stars and stripes was used. They then began what they call “TWIP,” or This Week in Politics. They discussed amongst themselves a wide range of issues from President Obama to the “funkiest-looking congressman.” Despite generally intellectual conversations, when one member claimed, “Having more people vote is not good for democracy,” followed by “I don’t want to hear them,” I almost broke my silence.
And maybe I should have.
“Providing options and the opportunity to get to know and understand another point of view is necessary when making decisions,” Heck said. But I don’t believe this was presented at either of the meetings.
What the groups really boil down to at best is political camaraderie and at worst, political incest. For any politically inclined individual, the meetings provide a forum for discussion that is difficult to find anywhere else on campus. That being said, each group’s meager numbers make for a watered-down discussion among like-minded individuals with few voices of dissent. In this age of bitter partisanship, it might be more constructive to try and find merits in other’s points of view, or at least discussing them, instead of berating them from a distance.
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