U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, spoke at the first meeting of the University of Wisconsin College Democrats Thursday about the current political atmosphere of Washington D.C and the growing influence of the Democratic Party nationally and locally.   

Pocan began by welcoming the gathered students. He shared he had formerly been a member of College Democrats during his time at UW, where he studied journalism. He joked about his status as a “32nd-year senior,” having graduated in 1986, but he quickly turned the conversation away from himself and towards the Democratic party as a whole.

“This is gonna be a really great election this November,” Pocan said, after endorsing several other party names, from U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, to Josh Kaul, a Democrat running for Wisconsin Attorney General. “I couldn’t say that last November.”

Pocan shared advice for students potentially interested in running for office one day. He recommended getting involved in the political process from any angle, using his own experience of going door-to-door campaigning for his father, a former city Councilman. He also suggested students run for office on campus for either a student organization or with the Associated Students of Madison — his principal point being to get involved with a campaign.

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Campaign involvement could entail doing a formal internship, or it could be a more casual volunteer opportunity. Pocan said it was important to explore the field through firsthand experience since running for office and constantly connecting with people may not be for everybody.

“You have to like people to do this job,” Pocan said.

Pocan also discussed FoxConn, the Taiwanese electronics corporation moving into southeastern Wisconsin. He urged students to vote Democrat this November, saying candidate Tony Evers’ administration could limit the company’s influence.

The final large-scale issue he addressed was possibly implementing economic sanctions on Myanmar, which is currently perpetrating a genocide against the Rohingya people. While he wasn’t against the possibility, he expressed hesitance.

“You want to make sure you’re not going to hurt people of the lowest economic bracket,” Pocan said. “In some of these countries, if you do something like that … that can happen,” Pocan said.

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Pocan finished the talk by poking fun at retiring Speaker of the House of the Representatives Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, whose district neighbors Pocan’s. He joked about Ryan’s love for P90X, as well as his pheasant hunting hobby.

The conversation took a turn as he expressed his disappointment at Ryan’s inaction in Washington. While Ryan has been openly opposed to the executive administration, Pocan believes that Ryan hasn’t taken the steps to initiate change. Pocan hopes that this election cycle can bring what Ryan and the other Republicans in Congress haven’t been able to offer — action against biased language and divisive politics.

Pocan ended the talk by thanking the College Democrats, and again urging students to take political action through voting and campaigning. He referenced a quote by Paul Wellstone, a late former Minnesota Senator.

“We all do better when we all do better,” Pocan said.