Campus Call-In, Minnesota

Call-In day was what i would call a success here at Gustavus. We tabled from 9:00am until 3:00pm (i told everyone to essentially think of it as if we were tabling to advertise some event, except this time the event would be going on while tabling, so we needed to be more vocal and attention-grabbing). Kira had the brilliant idea of making cookies to give to each person who made a call, thus we called it "Cookie for a Call" (it's really hard to reject a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie). I wish we had kept a tally of how many people stopped to call (my fault), but i can say with certainty that a lot of people stopped by since we made about 200 cookies to start with and had about 50 left by the end of the day (that would imply about 6-7.5% of the campus called, but that's not including the people who called and didn't want a cookie). So, despite my poor attempt at some statistical support, i know that we definitely helped to keep thephone lines busy throughout the day (we had people leave plenty of phone messages because the offices were busy with other calls).  Here's the rap I wrote that we had people use for their calls (not exactly, great, but i think it sufficed):

"Hi, my name is _______ and I am a student at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, MN. I am calling to encourage Senator/Representative ________ to support the Fair Elections Now Act which would give Congress the option to have publicly-funded elections.  This bill is important because of the way our current democracy is being undermined by special interests and "big money." I believe in having a American democracy in which the voices of the voters truly count and make a difference in the decisions made by our nation's top legislators, and I believe that fair and clean elections are a step in the right direction for a more honest, more people-oriented government."

DM Campus Coordinator

Clean Candidate Speaks with Students, Ironwood High School, AZ

On April 30th, Arizona State Representative Jackie Thrasher, spoke at Ironwood High School in Glendale, AZ. This event was organized and coordinated by a DM high school fellow, Jenn Robinson. Jenn first contacted all her elected officials to learn their opinions on clean elections. She was pleasantly surprised when she found out that Rep. Jackie Thrasher not only supported clean elections but also ran and won as a clean candidate. Jenn then decided to invite Rep. Thrasher, a former high school teacher, to come and speak at Ironwood High School.

Jenn responded to the following questions so that others DM organizers can successfully organize a similar event.

1.  What was the biggest challenge you faced in organizing this event? What lessons did you learn from these challenges?

The biggest challenged I faced in organizing this event was having the courage to contact many state representatives, like Jackie Thrasher, and other officials asking their opinions of Clean Elections and then asking if they would come speak at our school.  This was difficult because I had no idea what kind of responses I was going to receive since I've never made direct contact with elected officials like that.  It was also a bit of a reality check when I got back emails that totally bashed Clean Elections.  I was under the impression that everyone understood that running clean was a good thing even if they still chose to run traditionally, but I was quite wrong...There were some pretty vulgar replies that made me realize how controversial everything ends up being in politics.  I learned that you just have to take the bad with the good and be persistent and not let others' negativity discourage you.

2.  What were some of the questions that students asked and how did Rep. Thrasher repsond?

After Jackie Thrasher explained her motivation for running for office: the lack of funding for education, there were some students that questioned why so little money was being allotted for their education.  Rep. Thrasher responded by saying that she felt the same way-puzzled by the idea that AZ could be next to last in funding for public education, and that is why she had to do something about it.  Another student asked what political party she was from (as she had been very nonpartisain in her entire speech.) She responded honestly, "Democratic," and an uproar arrose in the young crowd...I asked the question, "How would you respond to people who say that Clean Elections is a violation of peoples' first amendment right to freedom of speech since they are being limited on the amount of money, and therefore support, they can give to a candidate running clean?"  Rep. Thrasher responded by saying that since it is an option to run clean, she doesn't see it as impeding of the right to free speech. 

3.  If someone else wanted to bring an elected official into speak, what suggestions would you give them?

I would tell them to make sure they stay in close contact with that official; email at least once a week to keep reconfirming the date and time since elected officials are such busy people.  I would also make sure that you have everything planned out and organized prior to the official's arrival.  (I had all the classes who were attending the event figured out but I forgot that I needed to have the microphone set up so I had to take about 5 quick minutes to set that up and get decent lighting in our theatre.)  I would also say to make sure you send them a thank you card after they have spoken.  That's always nice...

Jenn Robinson
DM High School Fellow
Ironwood High School, AZ

Written Testimony - Johns Hopkins University, MD

Democracy Matters coordinators have been working alongside Progressive Maryland (www.progressivemaryland.org) to help promote and try to pass a Clean Elections bill in the state of Maryland. Esther Bochner, campus coordinator at Johns Hopkins University, submitted the following written testimony to the state's House Ways and Means committee, urging them to pass the bill and send it to a floor vote. Her efforts proved successful!

Students at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, are plagued by the same illness affecting millions of students nationwide: cynicism. We are tired of seeing the same diluted pool of candidates dominate local, state and national elections due to incredible financial burdens. We are frustrated by the amount of qualified individuals incapable of making a difference because they are incapable of attaining the funds necessary to compete with wealthy candidates. We are unhappy with the current electoral system in which politicians are forced to spend more time and effort raising the money needed to run a competitive campaign than focusing on the issues and concerns of the people they aspire to represent. We are no longer content to sit by and hope for the best. That is why hundreds of students at the Johns Hopkins University have united in support of the Clean Elections Bill.

The bill provides us with hope for the future of Maryland politics. In recent years, campaign costs have increased exponentially, and the best candidates are unable to run for office or win elections because of the hurdles they encounter, not in effecting their policies, but in raising enough money. Clean Elections would allow qualified politicians who have proven themselves through collecting enough qualifying contributions to receive public funds for primary and general elections. This would help level the playing field between promising candidates and their wealthy opponents, and consequently produce elections that are about who would accomplish the most for the state, not who has the most money.

To students at the Johns Hopkins University, the Clean Elections Bill represents more than just a hope and excitement for the future of Maryland politics; it marks significant progress towards producing the ideals of equality our democracy strives to achieve. People of all races, genders and social classes will have the opportunity to run for elected office. Students who are jaded by the current, static process are invigorated by the possibilities that Clean Elections would introduce. The prospect of participating in a system where individuals are no longer inhibited by financial constraints, and all citizens possess equal opportunity to effect real change has revitalized the Hopkins campus. We are eagerly monitoring the progress of the state and federal bills for Clean Elections, and anticipate the bright, vibrant, optimistic future of our country.

-peace-

Daryn Cambridge
Eastern Regional Director

Political Spelling Bee - Hofstra University, NY

On Wednesday, April 11, from 8:00 pm to10:30 pm was the 4th Annual College Democrats Spelling Bee. My chapter of Democracy Matters, the Hofstra Democrats, and the Hofstra Republicans sponsored the event. I personally didn't come up with the idea. The fact that it was the 4th annual spelling bee means that it has been around for a while; all I did was co-sponsor it. In planning for the event, we needed to know which organizations would be sponsoring it with us, the projected amount of people in attendance, the room needed for the event, and the amount of food to buy. We raffled off new iPod shuffles and gift cards and provided free food, thus making for a respectable turnout. The words chosen for the event were all political in nature; as a way to educate the contestants and the audience about politics. I was able to pass out some Democracy Matters information to those in attendance of the event.
The Spelling Bee itself worked in the typical format, there was a judges table set up on stage, a host for the event (dressed like a bee) to call up each contestant and read them their respective word, and seats on stage for the contestants. The challenges faced by this event were, for the most part, technical in nature. Since the Spelling Bee was in an auditorium, equipment needed
to be set up and sounds checks had to be performed. Overall, there were minimal problems with the event.

Bradley Schloss
Campus Coordinator
Hofstra Democracy Matters

Campus Debate - SUNY Brockport, NY

On Tuesday February 17th 2007, The SUNY Brockport Democracy Matters chapter hosted a student debate between the College Democrats and the College Republicans. This was the biggest political activism event organized on campus. Many students felt that is was informative and very necessary because of the lack of civic engagement on campus.

We started to plan the debate two weeks before finals last year. It was at that time that we brain stormed ideas. We discussed varies topics including, abortion, the patriot act, The War in Iraq, inflation on tuition, clean money clean elections, and media bias. We decided that we were going to split the debate into three topics, which was between inflation of tuition in recent years, media bias and the War in Iraq. It was interesting how the topics unfolded during the debates because we didn’t want to follow traditional debate guidelines. In a traditional style debate the regulators assign positions and enforce the rules of the debate strictly. Our goal for the debate was simply to promote students to become involved with this issue. We wanted to advocate civic engagement and show how these political issues have an effect on everyone’s life.

We started to prepare for the debate in late January, when we got back from winter break. We reserved a room, and decided to table in our student union to promote the event. The student government and the American Democracy Project helped fund us by printing flyers and posting them on campus.

The day of the debate we set up the room so it would help invite guest. We posted some Democracy Matters flyers on the wall and positioned the tables so that I would it easier for a student to hear the speaker. The group also made introduction/itinerary packets for the students. In each packet there was a brief discussion about the topic, we found the information on the Internet. (i.e., for media bias we included the story about Obama and his accusations brought against him concerning attending a Muslim terrorist school).

The debate began with an introduction about democracy matters and the clubs. We showed the Public Campaign video so students could understand the basics about our club. Then after the video I gave the structure about the debate. Our chapter decided that we were going to have three separate rounds with an opening and rebuttals with the two organizations. We limited the opening speech to 5 min, and each rebuttal was three minuets. During the debate over the War in Iraq, I stood up after the teams had exhausted their rounds and ask the two teams to continue for another two rounds because it was a hot topic with many students becoming happy or angry. The emotion drawn form each student showed the success of the debate.

When the debate was over we had a question and answer session so that we could, open the floor to the audience and get them involved. It was shocking with the level of interest the students had. The crowd at the peak of the debate reached nearly 100 people. For the most part most students where their for their personal interest, however some professors at the college awarded extra credit, for attending. This, in combination with the flyers and word of mouth promotion, proved to be an effective way.

Some advice for any chapter that might want to set up a debate on their campus would be, had an official timekeeper. It was hard for me to keep time while concentrating on the regulations. I would also think of a way to get pizza or food to the debate. I believe that puts the extra motivation in students, to attend any event. Over all, the debate gained the attention of the whole campus and as a leading organization we plan to continue this success by hosting another debate in late April before finals.

Randall Franklin
DM Campus Coordinator
SUNY Brockport

A Different Kind of Numbers Campaign - St. Lawrence University, NY

St. Lawrence University's chapter of Democracy Matters recently organized a different kind of numbers campaign. We decided to focus on the number one billion, the estimated campaign cost for the 2008 presidential election. Instead of just posting flyers around the campus, our group brainstormed a new way to communicate this information to the student body.

Last year, a display in our student center attempted to raise awareness for rape and sexual harassment by stringing lines ofcolored T-shirts across the atrium, right where students walk everyday to eat, check their mail, attend events, or socialize with friends. With this idea in mind, our group came up with the idea of hanging strands of Democracy Matters bills across the student center atrium.

During one club meeting, we taped one thousand bills to strings, with the idea that each bill equaled one million dollars. This meant that the bills in our display represented one billion dollars. Our club spent some extra time that night hanging up the bills in long, drooping lines across the student center. The finished product was striking, obvious to anyone who walked through the student center. This display was accentuated with posters saying ONE BILLION, an explanatory sign in the student center, and emails
explaining the display.

Our goal was to educate people about the extravagant campaigning that is in our near future for the 2008 presidential election and the purpose of Democracy Matters. It seemed to spark an interest in some people, as many club members had discussions about the display with friends. One new person came to our meeting because of her interest in the display.

Altogether, the campaign was a success. We accomplished our goal of educating the campus about the existence of dirty money in politics. If we were to do it again, we could try to engage the campus more by holding campus discussions or a speaker on the subject of clean elections. We also could have more explanatory signs that were even more noticeable to the people passing through. However, for our first attempt at a different kind of numbers campaign, we are extremely pleased with the results. We would encourage other campuses to give it a try!

-Erin Griffin
St. Lawrence University

Petition Drive - Vanderbilt University, TN

The 2006 mid-term election for the Tennessee Senate was extremely competitive. Both Bob Corker (R) and Harold Ford, Jr., (D) raised huge sums of money in an attempt to gain the upper hand in such a tight race. Bob Corker, who ended up raising more money, eventually won. To raise awareness about money in politics, Democracy Matters at Vanderbilt University decided to welcome our new Senator with a petition drive. In the midst of a major ethics reform in the Senate, our goal was tell our newly-elected Senator Corker to keep an eye on the issue of money in politics and work toward Clean Elections. We set a goal of 250 signatures and began planning.

With the fall semester closing and finals week near, our group had to make the most of our time. My Staff Link Daryn Cambridge and I discussed various strategies to get as many signatures as possible in as little time. Although it would have been nice to go around as an entire group and get signatures, we though there would be a lot of dead weight and only one or two people doing the talking. Instead Daryn suggested each member take a half hour after lunch or dinner during the week and go around the cafeteria gathering signatures. We thought this strategy would be most effective since everyone was on different finals schedules, our members had to eat sometime during the day, and the cafeteria was a gathering place for hundreds of potential signers.

Although I think we picked the best strategy, our group hit some bumps along the road. Some members understandably put finals before the petition drive, gathering few or no signatures at all. Also since members were on their own, some put it off to the last minute, gathering only a small amount. A particularly successful group of three gathered over sixty signatures just going around to dorm rooms that had their doors open. They said they were so successful because they had a couple people to socialize with, which made the tedious work more enjoyable. I made an announcement about the petition in my American Government class and also carried the petition around in my backpack throughout the week.

When the semester ended, we had about ninety signatures. After a relaxing winter break, we resumed our petition drive, striving for that 250 signature mark. At the first meeting back, however, only about five members showed up. I think everyone was busy getting settled in and preparing for the semester ahead. Also, Vanderbilt has a huge Greek scene and rush week was in full force. I tried to take advantage of this busy week by passing the petition around at a meeting for my fraternity. My roommate and I also went around the cafeteria once more. Ultimately, however, we fell short of the 250 mark by about 110 signatures. Considering the circumstances, maybe 250 signatures was out of reach, but it is better to challenge yourself and fail than to have an easy goal and succeed. Hopefully, Senator Corker will write back, possible starting a continuous dialogue with Democracy Matters. If not, 140 more people know about Democracy Matters and Clean Elections.

Tom Byrne

Democracy Matters Campus Coordinator

Vanderbilt University