On behalf of the College Democrats of Madison, I would like to welcome everyone to campus and express our excitement for what promises to be an exciting and engaging year in American politics! Four months away from the Iowa caucuses, this presidential election is shaping up to be one of the most competitive and interesting races in history. Student groups have already been formed for the frontrunners, and we encourage you to look into each of the candidates and get involved in the campaign that most embodies your ideals.
While the College Democrats remain neutral in the primary, that doesn't mean we're going to be sitting back twiddling our thumbs. We have a big year planned, and I hope you have time to help us make it a success. Make sure you come to our Kickoff Meeting on Monday, September 10 at 7 p.m., TITU (today in the union). You can check our website (wisc.wiscollegedems.org ) for updates on room location and guest speakers.
In years with competitive primaries, the role of the College Democrats is to stick to the issues. That said, we're going to be tackling them head on. We will be working with District 8 Alder and College Democrat Eli Judge to help make our community a safer place by participating in the Langdon Street Watch Program. Along with Planned Parenthood, we're cosponsoring a Campus Camp Wellstone, which trains students in organizing a grassroots campaign. We will be helping progressives from all around Madison by volunteering in area state Assembly races, ensuring that next November we pick up the three seats we need to make Wisconsin a truly "blue state."
Perhaps most importantly, we'll be sponsoring other events on campus that bring your elected leaders to you, and allow students the opportunity to engage them and tell them what issues matter most to us as students. Be it financial aid, the rising cost of tuition, the quality of our education, the war in Iraq or health care, our elected officials want to hear what we have to say. We just have to be willing to step up to the plate.
This year we are also planning to offer an alternative spring break service trip. Two years ago, a group of College Democrats joined former Sen. John Edwards in New Orleans to help in the cleanup of an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The late Sen. Paul Wellstone once said, "never separate the lives you lead from the words you speak." What better time is there to remember that than now?
The College Democrats will be taking on a lot this year, and the best way to keep up with it all is to check our website and check it often. There you will find our news feed, event calendar, internship listings and a few new features we'll be unveiling at the kickoff. Just after the kickoff, we will be relaunching the College Democrats blog, with a cleaned up look, a new name and some very cool guest bloggers from local and state politics. I hope that it will serve as a forum for all students who are interested in politics to share their ideas in the great process of "Sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found."
The website also contains information about voter registration. Not only do we tell you how you can register to vote in Madison, we can show you ways to stay connected and vote even if you're studying abroad! I hope that you use our site as a resource, and that you take full advantage of the content we have. If there's any information you need, just let us know. We're all very accessible by e-mail for anything you might need.
We're looking forward to a great year. We hope to work with a number of other student organizations in making our campus a better and more involved community. The College Democrats have a big tent, and we welcome people from all backgrounds and political persuasions to join in the discussion. Together we can help craft a future that is bright and full of promise.
Finally, I should stress that, in addition to volunteering for campaigns and hosting political events on campus, we're also a very social organization. There will be intramural teams, tailgate parties, picnics and plenty of opportunities to meet great people from all around the country. There are many ways for you to get involved, and I hope that each of you finds something that you can do to make our campus community a better place. What we do today and tomorrow will determine what we are able to accomplish next November, and the sky is the limit.
Oliver Kiefer ([email protected]) is Chair chair of the College Democrats of Madison.
