It’s 2012 and you know what that means: another presidential election. The presidential candidates running in the 2012 election are Barack Obama for the Democratic Party against Mitt Romney for the Republican Party. Although sparks are flying in the presidential campaign ads, the fire is just as intense between political parties at Elizabethtown College.
President of the College Democrats senior Lauren Stine said that she thinks Elizabethtown College is a focal point for political discussions. While many students may think that the College Democrats are strictly with those whose political affiliations are Democratic, the main focus of the club is to increase voter registration in Pennsylvania. The club is trying to get more students involved in politics, regardless of political affiliation. “Our main goal is to have informed voters go to the polls… We are encouraging students to become informed and to talk with friends about issues,” Stine said.
Many people have dealt with others who disagree or have different views or philosophies than they do. “I’m willing to listen to anyone with ideas which he or she can back up with evidence and support. If someone talks to me and has a logical explanation for what he or she believes, I don’t have a problem disagreeing. My goal is to increase students’ involvement in political debates and discussions,” Stine said.
Dean of Faculty and political science professor Dr. Fletcher McClellan has been advising the College Democrats since the 1980’s. While interviewing McClellan in his office, one could not help but notice the pro-Obama pamphlet sitting on the edge of his desk. When asked about his political views, McClellan was very meticulous about choosing the perfect words for each question. “[Obama] was presented with a very difficult situation when he took office. The economy was collapsing so the first thing he had to do was to come up with some sort of program to stop the bleeding. We were losing something close to 1 million jobs a month there in the first 6 months of his term,” McClellan said.
Also very knowledgeable of the policies and acts Obama has put into place while in office, McClellan showed exceptional support for Obama getting re-elected. He sees results from many of the programs implemented by the Obama Administration, including the Economic Stimulus Program, “which cut taxes, sponsored projects such as construction … that would employ people that gave aid in the local government so that they could keep state employees, teachers, police officers, other state workers.” McClellan also believes the recession effectively came to an end during Obama’s first term, but “what we’ve been experiencing though is a very slow, problematic recovery,” he said. Issues like the controversial healthcare bill have slowed results for Obama, according to McClellan, though the passing of the bill is still monumental. “Almost every president going as far back as Truman, Republican or Democrat, has tried to improve our healthcare system,” he said. “It’s very costly … there are 50 million people that do not have health insurance. There are people that are under-insured. For Obama to pass ‘Obamacare’ and extend access to 30 million Americans and try to put some control on costs, it is an unbelievable achievement.”
Speaking as an Etown student, I wanted to know what policies Obama has put in place to help graduating college students. “There are a lot of things that need to be worked out but we know that the students who graduate from college can live on their parents’ insurance until they’re 26 if they need to,” McClellan said.
McClellan went on to talk about the green jobs that Obama has created to help further the progress of controlling carbon dioxide gasses. Between Hess, Stine and McClellan, all have high hopes for the reelection of President Obama. Whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, or have any other political affiliation, for that matter, take part in raising your voice by voting this year.