With the presidential election a little more than half a year away, political groups on campus are gearing up for the sprint to the finish line.
Senior history major and College Republicans President Katie Childs said she isn’t sure who will win the GOP race.
“The race is really unpredictable at this point, as seen in most of the recent primaries,” she said. “Out of the four remaining Republican nominees, three of them have won primaries. It’s difficult to predict what will happen next.”
Childs said she thinks there’s a good chance the next U.S. president will be a Republican.
“I think whoever wins the Republican party’s nomination will have a great opportunity to win in November,” she said. “I am sure once the Republican party has a nominee, [the College Republicans] will be ready to help that candidate’s campaign.”
Sophomore political science major and member of the College Democrats Robert Klaus said he doesn’t expect change this election.
“We fully expect President Obama to be elected to a second term,” he said. “That being said, we are taking all possible Republican candidates seriously and doing volunteer work for the President’s re-election campaign.”
Senior political science and public relations major and member of the College Democrats Mike Kittleson said he agrees.
“I think Obama will win because every Republican candidate seems to have a major defect,” he said. “[Mitt] Romney is out of touch, [Rick] Santorum is too bland and [Newt] Gingrich has no soul. With the economy picking up, if Obama runs a decent campaign, it should be an easy win.”
Childs said she thinks the College Republicans will be very involved in the election this November.
“I can only talk about student involvement for the election from the Republican perspective,” she said. “The best way for me to predict student involvement is to look at our club’s growth and participation. This year, our club has seen a tremendous increase in active membership and participation. In my opinion, that is an indication that Republicans on Bradley’s campus will be very involved in this election.”
Klaus said the College Democrats are willing to help register new voters.
“We’re always ready to register new voters because it really is a societal duty that is very important,” he said. “Perhaps when the election gets a little closer and everyone is swept up in the excitement, we’ll have a formal event.”
Childs said she agrees.
“We do not have any specific plans right now, but sponsoring or co-sponsoring an event to promote voting would be something we would love to do,” she said. “I think it would be a great idea to collaborate with other student groups, such as the College Democrats and Students Promoting Political Involvement to promote voting.”
Childs said the political groups on campus work together to promote voting.
“One of the great things about the political groups at Bradley is that we work in a bipartisan manner,” she said. “It’s so important for everyone, regardless of their political views, to exercise their right to vote and have their voices heard.”
