Young Voters Working Local

November 13, 2008
By Torie Wells

Many students attending Syracuse University don't live in the city. Most don't live in the county, or even the state. But on Tuesday night, the College Republicans focused more on Syracuse candidate Dale Sweetland than candidates in their home states, or even the race for the presidency.

“There's a saying that all politics is local, and that your local representatives will affect your living conditions more than the president,” said Paul Alberry. He's the liaison between the campus group and the Sweetland campaign.

Sweetland, Democrat Dan Maffei and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins were all vying for the 25th Congressional seat being vacated by retiring Republican James Walsh. Walsh held the seat for 20 years.

But it wasn't just the importance of supporting a local candidate that drove College Republicans to work for Sweetland, it was also a matter of where their work could have the biggest effect.
“New York is a lost cause for us. Obama will win no matter what,” said Alberry, “and with a local race that's so contested, it could go either way. It's very important for our Republican side to help out and get Sweetland elected.”

But what Republicans expected to be a highly contested race turned into a landslide win by Sweetland's Democratic opponent, Dan Maffei. Maffei won by about 15 percentage points.
Part of the loss stemmed from the fact that College Republicans are not the majority of young voters said members of the Onondaga county Republican party.

“It's always about working the cycle and appealing to younger voters and getting them out. And teaching them what our point of view is and that it is a common sense point of view and if they listen to it, they will appreciate it," said Matt Wells. Wells is a member of the County's Republican Party. He also worked on the Sweetland campaign.

After a disappointing loss at a local and national level, Wells said the party has to just re-group and move forward.

Moving forward is what the College Republicans plan to do as well. They are now focusing on upcoming events on campus, specifically an effort to bring Karl Rove to Syracuse University.

Picture from Syracuse.com