How are we defined?
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What we stand for and how we define ourselves as Democrats has, for the longest time, been a debate among the Democratic Party ...
In another Campus Progress blog yesterday, Joe mentioned that perhaps the strategy on campus is to pull in the freshmen who will be on campus in the next few weeks ...
But in order to do so, we must first define ourselves as Democrats and focus on the issues college students (especially the newer ones) care about ...
The issues then becomes: what exactly do 18-year-old freshmen care about?
Grassroot ideas won't do it. The average 18-year-old probably doesn't think too much about abortions or social security -- and unless they have a girlfriend/boyfriend/mother/father in Iraq, chances are they don't care much about the war, either.
So, then, what must be focus on? I say the answer is their pocket book.
If we can somehow define ourselves as the fiscal-friendly party that believes in the a cheaper, more qualitied education, along with allowing younger college students to get jobs easier, we will have pulled them in.
Most students, it seems, are apathetic unless it is something that affects them personally. Like it or not, money affects them personally.
Anyone else on CP a part of the College Democrats? What are you doing to reel them in this fall?
Marc
In another Campus Progress blog yesterday, Joe mentioned that perhaps the strategy on campus is to pull in the freshmen who will be on campus in the next few weeks ...
But in order to do so, we must first define ourselves as Democrats and focus on the issues college students (especially the newer ones) care about ...
The issues then becomes: what exactly do 18-year-old freshmen care about?
Grassroot ideas won't do it. The average 18-year-old probably doesn't think too much about abortions or social security -- and unless they have a girlfriend/boyfriend/mother/father in Iraq, chances are they don't care much about the war, either.
So, then, what must be focus on? I say the answer is their pocket book.
If we can somehow define ourselves as the fiscal-friendly party that believes in the a cheaper, more qualitied education, along with allowing younger college students to get jobs easier, we will have pulled them in.
Most students, it seems, are apathetic unless it is something that affects them personally. Like it or not, money affects them personally.
Anyone else on CP a part of the College Democrats? What are you doing to reel them in this fall?
Marc
!
What are your proposals?
Specifically the "getting jobs easier" thing... what do you mean like that? The last thing I want is a restrictive labor market along the lines of France.
Nobody ever won an election running on a platform of making America more like France. ;p
Abortions is not something we can win on. Civil rights seems to be an issue people are apethetic about.
The majority of the students here are military kids, so surely the war in Iraq won't be something we can win.
You tell me -- what were your concerns as a freshman?
Also, I think you might be underestimating how much they care about abortion and the war. At the same time, I don't think many people will pay much attention to your organization if you go out and make the same old arguments about the same old stock issues.
Good luck!