By Chris Kwiecinski
This story takes a look into political party organizations on college campuses, and what they strive to accomplish come election time. The story not only looks at what they hope to accomplish, but also how they go about studying politics in intricate ways.
Political awareness rises through campus political party groups
In Bradley Hall, room 126 on a Tuesday evening, the Bradley University College Republicans gather to discuss the latest G.O.P. debate which occurred the previous Saturday. This room, which normally operates as a classroom, is transformed into what Bradley College Republican president Jason Blumenthal calls a “safe room.”
“You’re safe to say what you want,” Blumenthal, a senior political science major, said. “Don’t expect somebody to attack you because that’s not what we’re about. We want to discuss values.”
With 2016 being an election year, Blumenthal and his Bradley College Republicans have already discussed plenty regarding the Republican Party. However, the Bradley College Republicans are a little different than most university political groups.
“Most of the groups don’t talk about politics, they talk about how they can get involved,” Blumenthal said. “I get it’s important to get involved, but if you don’t understand what you believe in, why does it matter if you’re getting involved.”
While Blumenthal is focusing on teaching college Republicans about how to understand what they believe in, it might sound like a futile action, as the perception of millennials is generally that they lean more Democratic than Republican.
Although the perception may be that millennials lean more to the left, Blumenthal said that might result because of how Republican views may be looked down upon by some.
“A lot of younger generation republicans are typically in a left leaning, education society,” Blumenthal said. “A lot of them don’t like to disagree with their teacher out of fear, so I think the numbers are highly underrated than you’d anticipate.”
Blumenthal maybe correct in that assumption. In a poll conducted in 2014 by Harvard’s Institute of Politics, the numbers reported that in adults aged between 18-24 35 percent identified as Democrats and 25 percent identified as Republicans. Those percentages have narrowed closer than what they were four years ago, as there was a 15 percentage advantage in Democrat to Republican in 2010 compared 10 percentage Democrat to Republican in 2014.
While millennials only make up a certain number of voters, senior Sports Communication major Anthony Sperando said the younger generation makes up a crucial part of the constituency.
“Eighty-four percent of the people who did vote under the age of 30 in Iowa voted for Bernie,” Sperando said. “I think you saw a lot of young voters come out the last two election for Obama as well. I think they control a lot, at least on the left side.”
As the younger generation is beginning to partake in voting, Blumenthal said he thinks there is a discourse that exists among today’s politics which might turn off people from voting.
“Our generation has seen political ‘walkiness,’” Blumenthal said. “What that means is, attacking each other, everything’s gridlock. Last time we had an actual functioning congress was 06… That was Bush when he had a majority in the house.”
However, there is a way to eliminate all that discourse, and Blumenthal said it’s just as easy as reading, or in this case, discerning which political articles are fair, unbiased and give the best narrative on those running for office.
“Read AP,” Blumenthal said. “Read Real Clear Politics. Arguably New York Times, but they have a left wing bias. Actually understand what your stuff is coming from, otherwise anything you read is not informed and you’re not becoming educated.”
Regardless, the biggest thing for Blumenthal’s Bradley College Republicans are that, after every meeting, they leave the better for attending.
“People leave more educated about something,” Blumenthal said.
Why Bradley University College Republicans are looking at old political ads
This short video explains why Bradley College Republicans are watching and talking about old political advertisements just as the election season kicks into gear.