Obama, Giuliani in; Greens, Libertarians up next

By Mark Butzow

Democrat Barack Obama easily won enough delegates Tuesday night to earn that party's presidential nomination, but the Republicans needed a second ballot to give Rudy Giuliani enough delegates to claim the GOP presidential nomination.

The selections were made during the third night of Western's Mock Presidential Election and were mimicking the major party's nominating conventions.

This Thursday night, two alternative parties -- the Libertarians and the Greens -- will get their 90 minutes of fame, nominating candidates for president to battle against Giuliani and Obama in the mock election's simulated Election Day next Monday in Western Hall.

The News-meister independent news servive will provide real-time observations and commentary from the convention floor at our Real-Time Blog at http://www.newsmeisterrealtime.blogspot.com.

Student-written pieces on Thursday's events will be posted here Friday and published in a printed newspaper that will be available Monday morning in Morgan Hall, Simpkins Hall and the Union. Copies will be distributed Monday evening at Western Hall.

What follows is coverage of Tuesday's major party conventions.

Butzow is an assistant professor in WIU's journalism program and one of four coaches overseeing News-meister coverage.

Giuliani earns GOP nod on second ballot

By Mark Butzow

You would have to go back decades to find the last time a major party had multiple candidates still fighting for enough delegates to secure the nomination when the National Convention arrives.

Tuesday in Western Illinois University’s Mock Presidential Election, both “national conventions” began with the outcome still unknown. That was by design, associate director John Hemingway said after “Super Tuesday” last week. Had last week’s simulation awarded both pledged delegates and so-called Super Delegates, there wouldn’t be any drama for the culminating night of the conventions.

And it certainly made for some drama in the Republican half of the night. No candidate got enough delegates on the first ballot to win the nomination outright, something that doesn’t happen in American presidential politics very often.

After a period of jockeying and negotiating, delegates shifted support enough that Rudy Giuliani surpassed the threshold needed to earn the nomination. Second-place finisher Mitt Romney then got left out when Giuliani’s running mate was selected. John McCain got the job.

Also noteworthy: Student participants awarded U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas 425 delegates in the first round of voting, reflecting the newfound attention he’s received recently in the actual campaign. Paul was the Libertarians’ presidential candidate in 1988, finishing third behind George H.W. Bush and Democrat Michael Dukakis.

Before the voting, campaign managers for the Republican candidates tried to find more votes, but most delegates seemed to have their minds made up..

So, after counting up all the votes, no one reached the 1,259 votes needed to claim a majority and win the nomination. Giuliani had 905, Romney attracted 762, and Paul earned 425. Word got out that Giuliani wanted John McCain to be his vice presidential candidate, and that was enough to persuade some states to switch their votes from McCain to Giuliani.

On the second ballot, Arizona delegates who initially voted for McCain gave all 259 votes to Giuliani. Texas delegates gave Romney’s 762 votes to Giuliani as well.
Giuliani received 1,489 votes, earning him the Republican presidential nomination. Then, keeping its promise, the Giuliani campaign nominated McCain for vice president. He was elected by acclimation.

The Giuliani-McCain ticket, and the Democrats’ Obama-Edwards campaign, will campaign for votes during the next several days, leading up to a simulated Election Day on Monday, Nov. 5, the culminating event of Western’s ambitious civic engagement exercise.

In the meantime, two more political parties – the Green Party and Libertarian Party – will choose nominees in 90-minute conventions Thursday evening in the Union’s LaMoine Room.

Journalism student Aundrea Noblet contributed to this story.

Obama wins nomination in mock balloting

By Tyler Vogler

Barack Obama won the Democratic presidential nomination in Western’s Mock Presidential Election on Tuesday, with over 60 percent of the delegates. It was no surprise to Obama supporters, who were confident about an Obama victory.

Among a stage of signs and cheering supporters, Terri VanMeenen delivered the Obama campaign’s nomination speech, explaining America is at a “crossroads.” The speech, actually a letter from Obama to his Mock Election campaign, called for a “new kind of politics” where elected officials represent who they were elected to serve. The speech cited the need for a change in politics that is “national in scope, but local in origin.”

Obama went on to grab 2,692 delegates and completely carried seven states including Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico and West Virginia. Obama received votes in every state except Vermont.

In an interesting turn of events, Obama received more votes in New York than its U.S. senator, fellow nominee Hillary Clinton, leading many attendees to question the validity of the Mock Election results.

“It’s a pretty biased crowd,” said Katie Anderson, a campaign manager for Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Even the Obama campaign acknowledged the discrepancies in votes.

“It’s unrealistic in terms of a real election,” said Jessie Kallman, an Obama campaign manager, “but it’s important because students are getting excited about the process.”

Optimism was steady through the night, even after the Kucinich campaign called for its followers to throw their votes in favor of Clinton’s campaign.

“It’s important we support other candidates. We’re all the same team,” Kallman said in the campaign’s nomination acceptance speech. Obama’s VanMeenen agreed: “it’s good to support other Democrats.”

Closing the acceptance speech, Kallman called on Democrats to support John Edwards as a vice presidential candidate. The Obama camp was actively campaigning for a joint Obama/Edwards ticket from the beginning of the night, even before Obama won his party’s nomination for president.

John Edwards later won the vice presidential nomination in a voice vote, beating out Joe Biden and a failed nomination for Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert.

Obama and Edwards will represent the Democrats and square off against the Republican ticket of Rudy Giuliani and John McCain when the Presidential Mock Election concludes Monday night in Western Hall.

Two additional candidates will vye for votes next week. Libertarians and Green Party members will select their nominees in the Union's LaMoine Room on Thursday evening.

Edwards didn’t give up without a fight

By Nicole Reed

The John Edwards campaign fell short Tuesday night in its effort to win the Democratic nomination, but he won’t be folding his campaign tent yet. Delegates at Western Illinois’ mock presidential election chose Edwards as the vice presidential running mate for Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

But Edwards didn’t play second fiddle in Tuesday night’s activities without a fight, which is how the real John Edwards would have wanted it. Derek Jones put Edwards’ name in nomination for president.

“Edwards would make a good president because he wants to end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home and provide health care to many Americans.” After his speech, Jones said he liked Edwards because he felt he reached out to younger people. And then he turned and walked into the crowd trying to hustle delegate votes for his candidate.

But it didn’t work. Obama won the nomination and will face Rudy Giuliani and candidates from the Libertarians and Green Party in next Monday’s mock general election.

D’Angelo Taylor, an Edwards campaign worker, said making Edwards the vice president on the Democratic ticket was a practical matter.

“Why not put together the two strongest people in the Democratic Party to help shape America, by helping us to only get stronger.” Taylor said both candidates have similar ideas. “Edwards has already lived the American dream. He has come from nothing to something.”

There were only a few quiet ‘nays’ when the roll was called on putting Edwards in the VP slot. So the road to the White House isn’t over yet for the attorney from meager South Carolina roots.

Reed is a student in Dr. Lisa Barr's Reporting I class.

Students learn the give-and-take of giving in, playing roles, and politics, politics, politics. (Photo by Adam Sacasa)

Clinton volunteer disrupts GOP debate

By Harrison Jones

During the Mock Republican National Convention last Thursday, the president of WIU’s College Democrats caused a minor ruckus when he thought he was authorized to be speak.

Scott Smith, who’s also working with the Hillary Clinton campaign, says he asked to take part.

“I had permission from a grad student and a faculty member,” Smith says. “And I wasn’t pushing for a ‘Democratic’ agenda. I was speaking for myself, and it was a pretty moderate position.”

Associate professor of political science Keith Boeckelman, who chaired the platform debates, found himself in the middle of disruption at the microphone.

After much debate on other planks on the Republican platform, plank 12 -- a plank regarding the legalization of marijuana -- became a subject of much debate.

A motion was made to move the Republican stance from “oppose” to “don’t care.”
Numerous delegates spoke on the motion. Toward the end of the debate on plank 12, Smith made his way to the microphone to oppose liberalizing the stance.

“I actually have a moderate Republican position,” Smith said. “I think to be a great country, you have to be good.”

But before Smith had a chance to speak, Boeckelman questioned him about what delegation he was from. With his badge tucked away inside his sweatshirt, he ignored the question and continued to try to speak on the issue.

Boeckelman interjected, saying, “The speaker is not recognized!”

Smith tried to continue, but finally stepped away, still talking as he walked away: “What I was trying to say is….”

However, Boeckelman interrupted him.

“You are not recognized,” the chair said. “Please return to your seat.”

Smith did so.

Shortly afterward, the motion to move the Republican stance on plank 12 to “don’t care” was defeated. Challenges were made on the decision of the chair to rule against the motion. The chair brought about a second vote, and the motion failed again.

Kucinich camp fades, gives surprising nod to Clinton

By Sarah Zavala

Dennis Kucinich’s campaign packed it in early Tuesday night and threw its support toward candidate Hillary Clinton during Mock Presidential Election activities at WIU’s Union Ballroom.

It was a wasted effort.

Barack Obama got 2,692 votes of the 4,367 delegates in the Democratic Party. Kucinich campaign manager Ken Pederson, a political science and journalism alumnus of WIU, said this just wasn’t the year for a victory for Kucinich. Clinton, he said, was the best candidate for president. Pederson said that when it came to the platform issues, Kucinich and Clinton were more in agreement than were Kucinich and Obama.

“When you are voting on a president … you should fight for what you want and what you want to see happen to your country,” Pederson said.

He said he was glad that his support actually helped out Clinton, with delegate votes from North Carolina.

However, Clinton managers did not feel the Obama victory in this mock election was necessarily realistic.

“If the delegates did any research at all, they would have found out that most Democratic states support Clinton more than Obama,” Clinton campaign manager Katie Anderson said. “All campaigns work so hard, and their thoughts should be taken into consideration.”

Anderson suggested that because many students here are from Chicago, as is Obama, it resulted in an inaccurate election. Clinton is one of New York’s U.S. Senators, but Obama won more delegates from New York last Tuesday when the mock election simulated the primary season and this week also drew more votes than Clinton. Christopher Dodd got 14 New York delegates; Clinton won 116; and Obama took 150.

Will Western Illinois accurately predict our next president? Convention organizer Rick Hardy says it’s clear not all the delegates stayed “in character,” but adds, “Who knows? Anything can happen!”

Associate professor John Hemingway of WIU's Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration (right) helps volunteer students and faculty count primary and caucus votes this week. Hemingway helped political science chairman Rick Hardy organize the Mock Political Convention at WIU.

Convention activities resume Tuesday in the Union Grand Ballroom, with Libertarian and Green Party conventions Thursday in the Union Lamoine Room and the Electoral College vote in Western Hall on Monday, Nov. 5. [Photo by Adam Sacasa.]

Vote for What's-His-Name

By Dr. Lisa Barr and Chris DeJonge

Apparently New York City, with those SKYscrapers, EYE-talians and EVERYthing is too far from the prairie. Somebody needs to tell Illinois State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Westmont) that Rudy's last name is pronounced JU-lee-AH-nee. Not Giovanni (four times). Not Geo-LAWN-ee (twice).

Kirk did point out that Giuliani's the go-to guy for Republicans in a fight. He made points with the crowd by reminding them that 9-11 happened in Giuliani's town and the former mayor had been a comforting presence for the entire nation.

The rest of the speech was spent extolling the other candidates on the ticket:

*Mitt Romney's a Mormon -- we're near Nauvoo, after all -- and he was a good governor of "ultra-liberal" Massachusetts;
*Mike Huckabee "shows you can elect good governors in the state of Arkansas";
*Ron Paul--"I passed a lot of Paul signs on I-80 down here."

The rest of the speech included attacks and occasional praise for Democratic Presidents and current candidates.

"John Kennedy did well in the Cuban missile crisis," Dillard said.

"John Edwards, that slick trial lawyer ... (expensive) haircuts," he said.

And there was even a Hillary bash. The senator knew the audience.

Perhaps his strongest material, the most well-delivered, concerned the man who inspired him to get enthusiastic about politics while still a WIU undergraduate some 40 years ago, back in 1976. That's right, Republican party patron saint Ronald Reagan spoke with Dillard in this very building. It gave him goosebumps when he remembered it tonight, he said. While an undergraduate student at Western, he got his picture taken and was inspired by the man he felt brought greatness back to the Grand Old Party.

Dillard also reminded the crowd that the GOP was founded by another man from Illinois, Abe Lincoln.

Maybe that's too tough on the distinguished and great, though. Dillard clearly appealed to the Republican platform simulation students. And afterward, he continued pleasing participants. He successfully connected with the students, reminding them that Republicans are regular people.

"We drink. We party. We're regular people," he said.

The senator may have stumbled over Giuliani's name, but he was a hit with his target audience. And he seemed to truly care about inspiring student participation.

He also told one of MPE's organizers, John Hemingway, that the convention was a great idea. Dillard siad he was glad to help "get the kids off the couches and out of the bars."

Sullivan appearance was late addition

By Robert Amaefule

Campaigners for Illinois’ U.S. Sen. Barack Obama said they put in a lot of effort to get a solid speaker for Tuesday’s proceedings, and although State Sen. John Sullivan (D-Rushville) came through, as late as 24 hours beforehand, WIU’s Obama team wasn’t sure he’d be there.

“We didn’t even know that he was coming until yesterday night,” Obama volunteer Jessie Kallman said on Tuesday, “and we’re really happy that he came.

“We felt that he added much leverage and credibility to the message we tried to present,” Kallman added.

Encounters with Uncle Sam

By Dr. Lisa Barr

When I asked Uncle Sam to end the war in Iraq, he said, “Sure thing” and tried walking away from me during the first night of the Mock Presidential campaign. But despite a crowd of about 500 Democratic delegates and campaign workers, I persisted.

“I mean now! Like, tomorrow!”

“I’m doing my best,” he replied.

Later, in the hallway, sociology professor Ken Mietus worried whether he was too biased.

Briefly.

Roped into service by “my friend Rick Hardy,” Mietus tried complaining about having told Hardy last spring that if there was anything he could do to help with the event to “name it!” Hardy did. The uniform looks uncomfortably polyester -- but it fits. The beard looked real but I felt it would have been rude to ask.

But I’ve personally long since lost any reticence about objecting to this unholy war. Saturday mornings spent in Chandler Park holding anti-war signs have conditioned me. And so I persisted even when it made Uncle Sam uncomfortable.

On the "convention floor," he says, he tried keeping Uncle Sam right down the middle, politically. But in the hallway, as a sociology professor, as a U.S. citizen -- that’s different.

“Uncle Sam,” he says, has an “image to uphold abroad and at home and I’m concerned my image has been somewhat sullied by the Iraq War.”

You tell ‘em, Sammy! Let ‘em complain all they want.

Dr. Lisa Barr teaches introductory reporting at WIU. All 32 of her students are covering the Mock Election. None of them could get Meitus to "break character’"the way he did with her. She achieved this by telling him she’d never cried so much during any other administration. She’s nearly 50. [Photo by A.J. Self]

Obama aide helps WIU effort -- maybe

By Brandon Brown

On the opening night of the five-night mock convention and election, the Union Grand Ballroom was where the Barack Obama campaign seemed to skyrocket.

The success of the Obama campaign -- he ended up with 1,180 votes, compared to Hillary Clinton's 311 and John Edwards' 302 -- may have been helped by a representative of Obama's official campaign team.

However, the Obama team was secretive about the outsider's identity.

For months, many WIU students seem to have taken an interest in Obama, and at Tuesday's Democratic session, it was evident that some interest translated into support.

For instance, Obama generated a 38-8 lead over Hillary Clinton in the Iowa caucuses -- the only candidates to get votes there.

Obama's student campaign has been meeting for five weeks, according to campaigner Chris Mortimer, discussing strategies and issues. Then they got a representative of Obama's official campaign team.

However, the woman refused to identify herself and would not comment except to say she was in Macomb to support students because some of the campaign workers on campus were also interning on the real campaign.

Caucuses and primaries: October 23 coverage

Super Tuesday surprises

Hundreds of students began an interesting journey Tuesday as part of the school’s ambitious mock presidential election, “The Road to the White House Starts at Western Illinois University.” The first of five evening events simulated the primary season, or at least the first half of it, for the nation’s two largest parties, the Democrats and Republicans.

The independent service we’re calling “News-meister” will print a newspaper and distribute it Thursday in the University Union, Morgan Hall, and Simpkins Hall. Presented here, though, are shorter versions of some of those stories, and a few pieces unique to the online package.

Our coverage of the first night:
• The Republican campaign season didn’t produce a surprise winner, but one candidate far exceeded expectations.
• The Democratic campaign produced a near tie between Clinton and Edwards, but neither was the big winner.
• Only the national campaign of Barack Obama sent a professional campaign aide to speak to the Macomb crowd.
• The Edwards camp had to scramble to prepare its speech when their planned speaker canceled.
• The Green Party is waiting in the wings for its turn next week.

Real-time commentary:
Want to get a sense of what it was like “on the campaign trail” Tuesday night? Take a look at the descriptions and commentary on our real-time blog, http://newsmeisterrealtime.blogspot.com

-- Mark Butzow, assistant professor of journalism

Delegate count “through Feb. 5”

Tuesday’s event simulated the early primaries and caucuses. About half of all convention delegates were distributed to candidates, based on state-by-state voting.

REPUBLICANS
1632 delegates
(of a total of 2517)
were pledged to candidates.

Giuliani 529
Romney 473
Paul 357
McCain 222
Huckabee 91

DEMOCRATS
2321 delegates
(of a total of 4367)
were pledged to candidates.

Obama 1180
Clinton 311
Edwards 302
Dodd 154
Biden 121
Kucinich 108
Richardson 76
Gravel 38

These preliminary figures will be double-checked Wednesday. Organizers predict an official report will be available by mid-morning.

Rep. Paul steals some thunder from frontrunners

By Sarah Zeeck

It was no surprise that Republican frontrunners Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani finished 1-2 in amassing delegates in the Republican primaries at WIU’s Mock Presidential Election on Tuesday. The surprise was that Ron Paul, a lesser-known Texas congressman, finished third ahead of more familiar names like McCain, Thompson and Huckabee.

Giuliani won the simulated early primaries with 529 GOP delegate, taking California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania and Utah. Romney was a close second with 473 delegates and the states of Nevada, New Hampshire, Delaware, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Texas. Rep. Paul took the states of South Carolina, Connecticut, Georgia, New Jersey and North Carolina and came in third with 357 votes. John McCain and Mike Huckabee trailed the other three.

Mike Huckabee’s campaign manager Drew McConville said, “We have a strong message, but not a lot of popularity right now in the national front.”

Fred Thompson’s team garnered no delegates Tuesday. “Hopefully if we don’t get the GOP nomination, we’ll at least get the vice presidential nomination,” said James Ruppert, campaign manager for Thompson.

Giuliani supporters felt he inspired the most confidence in respect to the presidential election. “He has the best chances out of the Republicans to beat Hillary (Clinton) or (Barack) Obama,” said one Giuliani campaign manager, Brian Keller.

Thursday, the Mock Presidential Election simulates the opening of the parties’ national conventions, with a keynote speaker and efforts to draw up a campaign platform.

Zeeck is a student in Dr. Lisa Barr’s Reporting I class.

Obama backers enjoy a super Tuesday

By Zachary T. Baker

In one night, Democratic candidates in Western’s Mock Presidential Election divided up more than 2300 convention delegates, and one candidate collected more than half of them.

Barack Obama, the first-term U.S. senator from Illinois, garnered 1180 delegates. John Edwards almost jumped ahead of Hilary Clinton, but the New York senator collected 311 delegates to Edwards’ 302 delegates.

“The presidential candidates in a primary state will win delegates in proportion to the popular vote they receive,” associate professor of political science Aimee Shouse said. “So the more votes your particular candidate gets, the more delegates they will get for the next two nights.”

Before the voting, representatives of eight candidates made short speeches, then their campaign managers “traveled the country” discussing candidate strengths with students serving as delegates from different states.

This Super Tuesday was one of four evening events being held in Western’s Grand Ballroom, part of the biggest presidential mock election held on a college campus in history.

The Obama campaign had its enthusiastic members posted everywhere holding signs, cheering loudly, and appeared to be the center of attention.

“I think it’s going wonderful. We had a bake sale, a rally, we did a big wheel event, and we have a great team,” said Terri Nameenen, assistant manager for the Obama campaign. “They represented some of the great leadership that we have on campus today.”

Baker is a senior journalism major.

Sullivan "stumps" for fellow senator

By Robert Amaefule

Barack Obama was the lone Democratic candidate who had a non-student speaker represent him in Tuesday’s nights Democratic mock election event.

State Sen. John Sullivan took the liberty of speaking on behalf of the Obama team here at Western. During his speech, he explained how he had the personal experience of working with the Obama for two years in the state’s capitol.

“I received the privilege of working with Obama for two years, and I watch how he worked to increase the educational funding for early childhood, K-12 education and higher education. I observed him fight to bring the people together and fight for a better education because he knows you get more bang for your buck when you invest in education for the kids of tomorrow,” Sullivan said.

The senator also mentioned his opinion on what Obama’s greatest asset was after watching him speak to the public. “His greatest quality when speaking is his phenomenal eye contact and his great listening skills because he knows that one must listen in order to learn, and that concept is something that is really lacking in Washington.”

Obama’s representatives put in much effort in arranging for the arrival of the state senator. According to his supporters, the party was unsure if Sullivan would be able to attend the event.

“We didn’t even know that he was coming until yesterday night and were really happy that he came. We felt that he added much leverage and credibility to the message we tried to present.”

Amaefule is a student in Dr. Lisa Barr’s Reporting I class.

Last-minute speaker represents Edwards well

By Jesse Wright

The John Edwards campaign avoided a complete meltdown during the introductory speech period in the Union ballroom. The campaign’s speaker ended up being Bob Surran, an intern for the Edwards campaign, but he only learned that he’d be in the spotlight 15 minutes before the night kicked off.

“We literally wrote the speech in the Fox Room down the hall,” Surran said. “Everybody was nervous to speak, so I just went up and spoke.”

The local Edwards campaign was reacting to a last-minute notification that original speaker Elizabeth Lucas was unable to attend. Lucas, an Iowa field director for Edwards, had prior obligations for the campaign in Iowa. Surran’s hastily written address was playful and brought laughs from the audience.

The mock election’s Edwards campaign manager, Justin Miller, was not surprised by Elizabeth Lucas’ absence.

“We knew that the possibility of her making it was unlikely. The Edwards campaign is very busy in Iowa right now, and she just had a lot going on,” Miller said. “In her place we were expecting an intern, but that didn’t happen either.”

Miller believes general confusion led to the mistake. He believed that the arrangements for the speaker were never completely organized.

"It wasn’t until two or three weeks before the mock election that things started to get messy,” Miller said.

Members of the Edwards campaign team said that Surran did a great job stepping in and giving an enthusiastic speech to support the cause.

“He didn’t do too bad,” Miller said. “We expected to have a hard time considering that we’re in Illinois and at a college.” In the final tally, Edwards finished a close third, just eight delegates behind Hillary Clinton. The results suggest the mistake was not as vital as first expected by the campaign. Members of the campaign claim that Elizabeth Lucas may be returning on Thursday, but the way things are going, they won’t make any promises.

-- Wright is a student in Dr. Lisa Barr’s Reporting I class.

Greens hope to steal Mock Election votes

By Merrill Scott Stevens

The Green Party gets a chance to spread their message at the mock election in 2007 at the Western Illinois University campus. The party is one of the two third-party groups to be let into the mock election along with the Libertarians, both trying to make themselves known in an election usually controlled by Democrats and Republicans.

Started in 2001, the Green Party of the United States is the official Green Party National Committee, approved by the Federal Elections Committee. The group’s goal is to help state parties and is in itself a federation of various state Green Parties.

The Greens are democratic, focusing on peace and keeping the environment a safe and healthy place. Unlike the Democratic Party, they refuse to receive donations from corporations.

There are 10 key values for the Green Party, which are basic principles that are changed around from state to state to fit the need. These values are a grassroots democracy, social justice and equal opportunity, ecological wisdom, non-violence, decentralization, community-based economics and economic justice, feminism and gender equity, respect for diversity, personal and global responsibility, and future focus and sustainability.

For the mock election, around 20 students were given the task of representing this third-party group, including campaign manager Robert Casey.

Casey, who also is president of the Campus Greens, prefers this group because they don’t accept corporate contributions and therefore are not influenced by these corporations. He also likes their general stance on environmental issues.

Casey said his group’s primary goal is to get their ideas out to the people, hoping that -- because they are given equal time in the main election, their own night to post ideas, and equal footing in about everything -- their ideas will stand on their own. Voters should follow.

The main obstacle Greens face in real life is that they are never allowed equal footing to get their message out, he said.

Casey also hinted that it’s important for Mock Election participants to pay attention to how these parties operate in real life. “When you’re partial to a party, go down that road in real life and get into something past the mock election,” he said.”

The Green Party will hold its convention, including adoption of a platform and nomination of the Green ticket, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, in the Lamoine Room at the University Union. Then the Greens will join the Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians for Election Day in Western Hall, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5, a night that will include the popular vote count and the Electoral College vote for president.

For more info on the Green Party of the United States, go to -- http://www.gp.org/about.shtml.

Stevens is a reporter in Dr. Lisa Barr’s “Reporting I” class.

Pre-Election Coverage

Congressman Hare congratulates students

U.S. Rep. Phil Hare (D-Rock Island) sent a video message to WIU students taking part in the mock convention starting tonight. Click below or go to this link --

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7776148459672388110

Meister means master: Our humble goal is to be the mock election's News-meister

By Mark Butzow

Welcome to the News-meister “blog,” one facet of Western journalism students' coverage of the university’s ambitious Mock Presidential Election, “The Road to the White House Starts at Western Illinois University.” As this project progresses between now and Nov. 5, you'll find individual stories, shorter tidbits and updates from the MPE organizers on this site, along with the occasional first-person or insider’s account.

If you're unfamiliar, this is a weblog (“blog” for short), which means every new entry pushes earlier entries down the page. Older stories are still accessible, but you have to scroll down to find them and eventually they get outdated (talking in future tense about things that have since happened, etc.).

We'll try to post items from each night of the mock election in a “most-important-first” order, and we’ll try to make it clear as you scroll down when you’ve reached the “dividing line” between coverage of the distinct MPE events and evenings.

For these first couple of days, we've assembled some explanatory and feature-oriented material to whet your appetite. You'll learn:
• whether to expect higher student involvement in real upcoming elections.
• how this event, the nation’s largest mock election, came to fruition, and
• what it’s like for students to form a campaign team from the ground up.

The first "deadline coverage" will show up Tuesday evening (with more possibly added on Wednesday). We hope you find it both interesting and informative.

-- Professors Bill Knight, Lisa Barr, Mark Butzow and Lisa Kernek will coordinate the News-Meister coverage and coach about 50 eager student reporters, photographers and copy editors.

Mock election could spur voter turnout

By Zachary T. Baker
The upcoming presidential mock election at Western Illinois University was designed specifically to educate students about the political process of electing a president. But can such an event really change students’ outlook?

“Overall, events like the mock election here on campus will educate students a lot better in making informed decisions; that they’re not just going to the polls, but they’re actually making a decision that suits their ideals best,” said Joe Lanane, vice president of the Student Government Association. Janna Deitz, an assistant professor of political science, agrees.

“In terms of the type of methods that we’re using, such as the mock election, it’s really hands-on,” she said. “I think this type of active learning has a much stronger link to getting people to engage in the behavior that you want them to.” In other words, a simulated election is more effective than having someone say, “Here, read this information. Go online and read about these candidates.” Lanane hopes it helps.

“This mock election is a huge help for all students looking to increase the political process here because it’s been pretty sad in the past,” he said. “Voter apathy among younger voters, students in particular, is still very high.” He believes students’ indifference toward the process is declining every election.

Indeed, 11 percent more voters aged 18-24 cast ballots in 2004 than 2000, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, but youth voting still remains lower than older voters. Social scientists from Yale’s political science department found two reasons turnout among young voters is low: Young people are seldom the focus of campaign messages, and they are rarely the focus of person-to-person mobilization campaigns.

“Instead of feeling like our voice isn’t being heard, maybe we should come in with the mindset that your voice is going to be heard more than anyone else,” Lanane said, “because if you’re the future, you should have your opinion be taken into account a little bit more.” Further, Deitz said, the “youth vote” could make as much of a difference as other demographics.

“When talking in terms of affecting the presidential election, if we have a close election, then it’s possible that young voter turnout can make a big impact,” she said.

The 2000 presidential election taught us that candidates were not focused on younger voters. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, despite billions spent on campaigns in 2000, not one Presidential campaign advertisement targeted young voters. Because most candidates feel that young people don’t vote, campaigns don’t waste resources targeting them, and that leads to continued disengagement, according to CIRCLE.

The increased turnout in 2004 could reflect differences between generations X and Y. Harvard University and MTV claim that the younger Generation Y pays more attention to politics and is more involved in their communities.

“Generation X is supposed to be somewhat apathetic, having grown up during a time when nothing really had happened,” Deitz said. “There was no situation of war or scarcity, no major developments in terms of affecting ‘my’ political socialization.”

It may be that young voters have gotten a bad rap, so what are the chances of another increase in overall turnout among young voters? The Vanishing Voter study at Harvard University concluded that powerful issues like Iraq, the economy, and a polarizing president influenced higher turnout in 2004. But if these issues aren’t relevant in 2008 and intense partisanship continues, it would be less certain that young adults will flock to the polls again.

Organizers of the mock election hope they can reach those students that would not have voted otherwise by giving them a first-hand experience of how the election process works.

“If we can start engaging students a little bit more during this mock election in 2008, you’ll see some better voter turnout at Western Illinois University in the long run,” Lanane said.

-- Baker is a senior journalism major

How did the nation’s largest collegiate civic project get to WIU?

By Paige Stark
A political science project 31 years ago in Iowa that included then-graduate student Richard Hardy is getting new life in 2007 at Western Illinois University. Hardy is half of the dynamic duo that is leading a mock presidential election set to begin Tuesday and last through Nov. 5, what Hardy calls an effort to “get Western on the map.”

The mock election, called “The Road to the White House Begins at Western Illinois University,” is a full-fledged simulation of the upcoming 2008 election.

“I think by participating in [the mock election], students will learn first-hand how it works and begin to appreciate the complexities of it and why it’s important to participate in our political system,” Hardy said.

Hardy, a Leatherneck alumnus, went on to finish his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. Recently retired from the University of Missouri-Columbia after 28 years of teaching, Hardy is back at Western, serving as chair of the political science department.

In the 1976 mock presidential election at the University of Iowa, about 500 students participated, and the students picked the eventual winner of the 1976 presidential election, Jimmy Carter. While teaching at Missou in 1987, Hardy successfully conducted a mock election involving 1,800 students. The students were only off a few votes from predicting the eventual winner of the 1988 election, George H.W. Bush. Still, Hardy says the event was very successful in engaging the university and students in politics and in the election, so it was an easy decision to recreate the same civic project here at Western.

“I graduated from Western Illinois University, and so in coming back home, I wanted to do something that would help put us on the map -- or at least something that would draw attention to this university,” he said.

Another goal of this mock election is to get young people more involved in American politics, he added.

“I think by participating in [the mock election], students will learn first-hand how it works and begin to appreciate the complexities of it and why it’s important to participate in our political system,” Hardy said.

With the help of thousands of students and faculty, “The Road to the White House” will be the largest mock election Hardy has ever created. He said more than 4,000 students are involved in making this mock election possible.

Julie Remes, the main student coordinator of the event, said, “On the final night of the election, I wouldn’t be surprised to see seven to eight thousand people at Western Hall for this election … so it’s a really exciting thing for Western.”

Hardy sounded upbeat about the project and the election it’s imitating.

“This is a great political system,” he said. “[Students] should really take advantage of the participation and be a part of this. We’re all Americans.”

More background on the event is available at http://www.roadtowhitehouse.wiu.edu, and the site also includes a comprehensive schedule of events and contacts for students comprising the many different candidate teams.

-- Stark is a student in Dr. Lisa Barr’s “Reporting I” class

The MPE, from the ground level

By Floyd Wombacher
Setting out for my final semester at Western, I committed myself to doing what I could to make the Mock Presidential Election (MPE) a success. Along with my involvement in the event through Pi Sigma Alpha (the National Political Science Honor Society), the College Democrats, and acting as a peer mentor for a First-Year Experience class that will fill the role of various states’ delegations, I also took on the role of campaign manager for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, the senior U.S. senator from Delaware.

And that’s where my life got real demanding, real quickly.

I got interested in Biden soon after the 9/11 attacks on our country when I managed to catch one of his many appearances on the Sunday morning news program circuit. The impression I took from that day’s interview? It seemed like he was talking to me, not necessarily the Washington elite. It was a rather refreshing approach, one that spoke volumes of the man’s leadership capabilities. I made it a goal to try to follow Biden’s speeches to Congress, his votes on legislation and to which proposals he attached his name. When the 2008 election cycle came along, it was well known that he was going to throw his hat into the ring, despite already being in the hole looking up at the “Big 3” – U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee.

When I first learned of Dr. Rick Hardy’s vision of a campus-wide mock election back in late 2006, it came to me that not only could I pad my resume with this experience, but there might even be an opportunity to support my chosen candidate. By the time summer had rolled around and the debates began (so early!!) among the contenders, it was clear that those students who did not follow the political process very closely would probably, out of innocent ignorance, announce their limited support for either the woman candidate or the guy from Illinois. I saw an opportunity to get the word out about Biden by making use of this mock election, and I decided to put forth what effort I could muster around my schoolwork and my baby-rearing work to make Biden a viable Presidential candidate on this campus.

When it came time for the first MPE organizational meeting to take place, I had already attended a Biden campaign stop in Keokuk, Iowa, and made contacts with members of the regional and national staffers in order to secure their support. At the time, I was very high on the idea that Biden might make a stop in Macomb during our big event, and I began to make plans for just such an occasion.

During the organizational meeting, I gathered a few individuals with whom I had classes in the past and asked about their interest in joining the Biden team. We started out as a group of five students who were eager to take on the task of getting our candidate’s name out there in the public eye. Soon, we added some freshmen students from an intro Sociology class, doubling our numbers.

As the event took shape, the Biden MPE organization had two goals in preparation for the big event: first, create signage to post in as many buildings as we could reach, and second, get to know the issues. The latter will be most important during the first three nights of the mock election, as we will need this knowledge to gain delegate votes and hopefully get Biden the nomination. I came up with a list of the most important issues of the campaign — 14 in all — and divvied them up among the staff to compile two-to-three sentence summarizations that would all fit onto one page to act as a cheat sheet that we could refer to in a pinch.

Now, it begins.

-- Wombacher is a senior political science major

NEWS COVERAGE OPTIONS

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Broadcasting students and faculty plan to provide “wall to wall” live coverage of the five evenings. This live coverage will be available to all Macomb cable subscribers, including campus residents, by tuning to Channel 3 during the live events (see the schedule nights and times in the left column of this blog). In addition, the WIU student newscast, “wiutv3,” which airs at 1 p.m. weekdays (with a replay at 4:30 p.m.), will contain coverage of the project.

Journalism students and faculty coaches plan to provide prompt written coverage of the mock presidential election.
* First, a companion site to this one will present real-time OBSERVATIONS and COMMENTARY throughout the MPE's five evening events.
* Second, more complete (and objective) content will be posted to this News-meister weblog (“blog”).
* Third, we’ll combine many of those same stories with news photographs and create a printed News-meister newspaper that will be produced four times in three weeks. It will be distributed on campus Oct. 25, Nov. 1, and Nov. 5, followed by a larger wrapup/roundup issue that will be available on Wednesday, Nov. 7.
* Fourth, after the first week, Journalism will provide coverage online by posting PDFs of newspaper pages on a “mock election coverage” page on the English & Journalism website, and we'll do the same thing after "Election Day" with the contents of the final, wrapup/roundup issue.

And, of course, the Western Courier, WIU's student-run newspaper, will be covering the mock presidential election. The Courier is published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and its website is http://www.westerncourier.com.