Other voices

Following are a handful of remarks made during the recent MPE, unpublished until now...

“This convention has been really good to get insight and information about politics. At the start of the convention I did not really care, but as it goes on I have been taking in a lot of information that I didn’t even know before.”
--Casey Aurand, a freshman from the St. Louis area attending as part of a sociology class.

“Ron Paul was selected by the Libertarian Party back in the ‘90s yet he is running as a Republican. If he doesn’t make it as a Republican hopefully his press time here will make him known and he can run with the Libertarians. The Libertarian Party’s goal is to keep the government out of citizens’ affairs unless it inflicts bodily harm. For example, they are for the legalization of marijuana, same-sex marriages, not raising the taxes. They are against the war in Iraq, want to end the IRS, and to secure our borders and end illegal immigration.”
-- Josh Carrigan, president of College Libertarians

“The Mock Presidential Election offers a unique opportunity to benefit students and the actual campaign alike to promote the values and messages of the candidates. What I particularly like is the opportunity to experience what a real presidential campaign is like, as well as the fact that it brings attention to the actual campaigns and helps students realize just what is at stake.
-- Zak Foste, a sophomore political science major whom supports Barack Obama.

“This convention is as great idea. It gets students involved in the electoral process, something a lot of students don’t’ know about. For me, I’ve never been to a convention so this is all new and exciting.”
-- Zack Kelton, Senior in Political Science.

“[The convention] is a great process for the Greens and Libertarians because it gives them the opportunity to see how choosing a platform and the rest of the election process works. I think that all of this really puts Western above many of the other colleges.”
-- Ken Pedersen, a senior political science major and Kucinich supporter

“I came to the Mock Presidential Election to learn about the different candidates and where they stand on hot-button issues. I think that this event provides students with an excellent chance to become educated on some of the issues that America sees as very important toward the next election: health care, same-sex marriage, abortion and the death penalty. What is unfortunate is that some people are just here because their professors are making them be there.”
-- Eric Schuman, a junior broadcasting major who supports Rudy Giuliani.

“The candidate that is my favorite and that I would vote for is Rudy Giuliani. One of the main reasons I like Rudy is because of what he did as the governor of New York during 9/11. Being a part of that will help him relate to the families of the troops overseas. Also, he will be able to grieve with them and know how to help them through it because he has done it before. Another thing that I really like with Giuliani is when he implemented the Zero Tolerance rule. It wound up taking a big chunk out of the crime rate and I believe that if he did that with America, it would help a lot.”
-- Kyle Tackett, a freshman Republican.

“I think the mock election is a great idea. I really want to know more about ‘behind-the-scenes’ of the election and see how things work. It also gives me a way to learn more about the electives and helps me decide who I’ll vote for.”
-- Agnes Tackie, a junior psychology major designated by her class to support presidential candidate Bill Richardson (but he lost Tuesday so she was attending on her own.) She said she supports Barack Obama in real life.

“My favorite candidate would have to be Dennis Kucinich even though he has given all of his support to Hillary Clinton [at WIU’s mock convention]. I find him as a great candidate because he speaks for the common man/woman. I love his stand on the Iraq war and abortion. It is exactly how I feel on both of those topics. After learning that [his local campaign] was throwing all of his support to Hillary Clinton, it made me sad. Then, after looking at the current polls, I came to realize that 2008 just isn’t Dennis’ year.
“His views had some candidates looking at their platforms again. His views and platform would make any Democrat proud and I would still vote for him.”
--Alyssa Winters, a freshman Democrat and political science major.

Interviews by Caitlin Barrett, Tessa Flint, Ken Jenke, Keith Leiting, Kyle Moore, Lori Pankratz and Joshua Simmons