Few votes, but much awareness

By Danielle Granato and Derek P. Palmer

The two active third parties at WIU weren’t expecting an Electoral College victory, but they wanted to communicate some of the positions so students could discover if they agree with the platforms.

The Green Party sees itself as a viable option.

“I was excited about the response to [Green Presidential nominee] Jared Ball’s speech,” California Green delegate Erin McCarthy said. “The tape was a little fuzzy on Thursday, which was a disappointment, but I believe the message was well received.”

Campus Greens president Rob Casey said there’s still work to do.

“The majority of our campus has not heard the Greens side yet,” he said.

McCarthy said Greens are more than environmentally conscious Democrats. “We are separate,” McCarthy added. Another Green activist said he thought the MPE was a good outreach effort.

“This is a party for the true progressive person,” said Jeremy Arendt, who hopes students attending the MPE will realize “maybe they were Greens all along but just didn’t know it.”

The Libertarians also felt successful late Monday for promoting awareness of the Libertarian cause.

Most Americans and most students support their positions, said College Libertarians president Josh Carrigan. He conceded, however, that some students may not have understood all aspects of supporting the Libertarian Party.

The Libertarian's keynote speaker from last week, Adam Chacksfield, agreed that there was a significant Libertarian presence in terms of what students believe.

The Libertarians think they would have received a reasonable number of votes if the Green Party were not an equal presence in the campaign. Carrigan predicted the two “alternative” parties split about 10 percent to 15 percent of the vote.