This election season, our campus is going to be very, very important. The University of Wisconsin will have a huge role in shaping decisions that affect our entire state, and a high student voter turnout on Nov. 7 will be absolutely necessary to keeping Wisconsin blue.

The College Democrats of Madison have been working hard to ensure that Governor Doyle, Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton, Senator Herb Kohl, U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin, and a Democratic state Legislature are elected on Nov. 7. The College Dems kickoff will be this Wednesday, September 13 at 6 p.m. in Room 3650 Humanities. Special guest Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton — Wisconsin's first elected female lieutenant governor — will be speaking, and there will be plenty of free pizza for all.

Last Thursday evening, more than 300 people attended the Students for a Fair Wisconsin kickoff meeting. UW students rallied around the cause of defeating the ban on marriage and civil unions, and will continue the fight to preserve basic rights for all Wisconsinites. Support for defeating this amendment continues to grow across the state.

However, for the ban to be defeated, Gov. Doyle and the rest of the Democratic ticket also need to win this fall. Gov. Doyle opposes this discriminatory amendment, while his challenger, Republican Congressman Mark Green, supports it. If Congressman Green is elected, the possibility that discrimination will be permanently written into our state constitution becomes a very frightening reality. Voters who oppose the ban need to get to the polls and support Governor Doyle if they want to defeat discrimination and defend the basic rights of all people.

Gov. Doyle has fought hard to ensure that Wisconsin students can vote. The governor has continually vetoed the Republican-controlled Legislature's efforts to stop specific groups of people from voting. How many students actually have their current Madison address on their driver's license? I know I don't. Without Gov. Doyle's protection of voters' rights, the vast majority of students, especially those living in dorms, would not be able to vote on campus this November.

Gov. Doyle, in another step to move Wisconsin forward, introduced the Wisconsin Covenant last January. Last Wednesday, the governor signed the Covenant into effect. This means that current eighth graders who sign a pledge to maintain good grades and stay out of trouble are now guaranteed enough financial aid so they can afford to attend college at any UW school. Turning the Wisconsin Covenant into a reality shows that Gov. Doyle has kept his promise to provide educational opportunities to students who deserve them, not just those who can afford them.

When it comes to caring for those afflicted by life-threatening diseases, Congressman Green neglects them in favor of his ultra-conservative backers. In Washington, he has consistently voted against stem-cell research that could potentially save the lives of millions of Americans. In the past week, Congressman Green, finally realizing that the voters of Wisconsin overwhelmingly support stem-cell research, attempted to flip-flop on his position and proposed supporting a new unproven, experimental method of stem-cell research that does not destroy embryos. However, this new technique has failed, as researchers have acknowledged, and it does not hold the potential of research championed by Gov. Doyle.

Congressman Green has proven that he does not share the values of the people of Wisconsin. In contrast, Gov. Doyle has made it clear that his priorities are with Wisconsin families and Wisconsin students.

Gov. Doyle sides with students when it comes to financial aid. He sides with students to make sure we maintain our right to vote. He sides with students over the Washington insiders. He sides with students when it comes to life-saving medical research. And he sides with students when it comes to protecting our basic rights.

The UW-Madison College Democrats kickoff meeting is this Wednesday, Sept. 13, at 6:00 p.m. in 3650 Humanities. Please come to hear from elected Democrats from around the state. Gov. Doyle has stood up for us — it's time that we students stand up for him.

Suchita Shah is the Vice Chair of the College Democrats of Madison.