On The Left

The Georgetown University College Democrats have big plans in store for this presidential election season, including working with ongoing democratic campaigns and already lining up at least one speaker for early this fall.

“On Sept. 9, we have former senator Lincoln Chaffee (R-R.I.) coming,” GUCD President Adam Feiler (SFS ’09) said. “He was a Republican senator from Rhode Island, and he’s now an Independent supporting [Sen. Barack] Obama [(D-Ill.)].”

The College Democrats said they have reached out to Obama but as of yet, he has not accepted an invitation to speak at Georgetown this fall.

GUCD Communications Director Chris Dodge (COL ’10) said the College Democrats have planned a number of events to increase voter registration and educate students about the election.

“Election-related activities will include our annual dorm storm,” he said. “Last year, we knocked on every freshman door on campus and registered over 250 new voters.”

The College Democrats are also working closely with Georgetown Students for Obama to offer students the opportunity to work with the Obama campaign.

“We’ll be doing phone banking every week as a group,” Dodge said. “We’ll have a system in place that monitors who does the most phone banking with prizes for those who log the most hours.”

Dodge said the club will also be hosting campaign trips throughout the fall.

“We’ll be helping our members to campaign in Virginia every weekend until the election. Also, we are planning a campaign trip to Ohio and possibly one to New Hampshire.”

Beginning with a convention watch party next week, the College Democrats plan to host a series of events throughout the fall to bring students together to watch debates and election coverage, culminating in an election-night watch party.

“On August 28, we’ll be co-sponsoring a convention watch party in Sellinger Lounge with NAACP, BSA and The Fire This Time to watch Senator Obama officially accept the nomination with what will surely be an amazing speech,” Dodge said.

Continuing their election coverage, the College Democrats will be holding a bipartisan debate watch for the third and final presidential debate. On election night, they also will hold a massive watch party in Sellinger Lounge with food, drinks and a massive cut-out of the country, which will be filled in throughout the night as various states report their results.

The College Democrats will also be continuing to work with the College Republicans on the GU Votes 08 initiative to encourage voter registration.

“We’ll be doing a large-scale campaign effort this fall,” Feiler said. “We’ll be knocking on every door, several times, identifying voters and getting people registered.”

Dodge said that GUDC will be co-hosting a mock debate with the College Republicans, where teams of three Georgetown students will represent the presumptive presidential nominees Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“This is a big event to watch, as our debates are always highly entertaining,” Dodge said.

GUCD also hopes to have an election awareness event later in the semester, in which a celebrity, actor, musician or athlete who supports Obama will visit campus to generate excitement about the election.

On The Right

With debates, speakers and campaign trips lined up for the fall, the Georgetown University College Republicans don’t plan to be left behind in gearing up for the election of 2008.

“This summer has actually surpassed my expectations, our executive board and deputy board have really put in 200-percent effort to make sure that everything is set up for the fall,” GUCR Chair Ellen Dargie (COL ’10) said. “Since it’s an election year, it can be one of the most challenging, but everything and more we had hoped to accomplish got done thanks to our members, and I can’t wait to see their hard work pay off in the fall.”

Dargie said the College Republicans have planned a number of forums, debates and speakers to educate Georgetown students about the issues prior to the upcoming election.

“We’ll be hosting prominent speakers, including several congressmen, to help educate our members about the issues, debate and campaign firsthand,” she said.

Dargie said that while many leading Republicans have been invited, the College Republicans have not yet confirmed who will be speaking on campus this fall.

Though they said they have invited presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to campus, as of yet, he has not accepted the invitation to speak at Georgetown this fall.

The College Republicans also expect that the upcoming election will present an opportunity to get more students involved and increase club membership.

“I expect the fall to bring many conservative students out to our events and campaigning activities since it’s one of the most exciting times to get involved,” Dargie said.

Dargie added that the club will also offer opportunities for Georgetown students to work directly with the John McCain campaign.

“Students for McCain is essentially a sister organization of the College Republicans,” she said. “We’ll be phone banking and volunteering our time to help support our candidates.”

Dargie also said the College Republicans will be working with the Republican National Committee to sponsor campaign trips throughout the fall.

“We’re planning on going to at least two different states, and I hope a lot of members will be a part of 72 hours once the RNC gives us more details, hopefully allowing students to travel to many places where volunteers are needed,” she said.

GUCR also plans to bring together Republicans across campus to watch the presidential debates and other events, culminating in an election-night party.

“We’ll be hosting a watch party on election night, starting early in the evening and lasting until we find out who the next president will be,” she said.

“Our purpose as Georgetown University College Republicans is to educate students so that they can make informed decisions about how their country should be governed, and I couldn’t imagine a more exciting time to live up to that mission,” Dargie said.

“