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Features Students get involved in campaigns
By Carla Hart Staff writer Excitement and passion surround the political process at Mercyhurst College. Among other tasks, students have been campaigning for the presidential election making calls, distributing literature by door-to- door and rallying support from constituents. Democratic hopefuls, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, each have local campaign headquarters, while Republican Senator John McCain does not? Western Vice President of the College Democrat Federation and Mercyhurst College junior Timothy Knecht considers it an honor to work for the Clinton campaign. "I feel I am doing a great duty to my country by being involved in the political process and helping to create a political culture and associations," said Knecht. Along with obtaining signatures for Clinton delegates for the national convention, Knecht represents unions, creates signs and canvasses the Erie area. "I also do anything else they would like me to do," he said. Like Knecht, junior Sarah Belotti said she loves the atmosphere surrounding a campaign. She will replace Knecht next year as vice president of the College Democrat Federation. "I love working on campaigns, because it shows how powerful grassroot campaigns can be," she said. "Also, they are always high intensity and you meet a lot of people with similar interests and field of study." Senior Kaitlyn Faucett, secretary of the College Democrat Federation, has worked for several local campaigns. She said campaigning has been extremely rewarding, but working on campaigns is not in her future after graduation. "If in the future I do work for a politician, I would like to be his or her lawyer or political consultant," explained Faucett, who is pursuing a degree in political science with pre-law. With the Pennsylvania primary coming up on April 22, and nine contests remaining, Jennifer Jarema, spokesperson for Mercyhurst Students for Obama, expressed excitement and passion for being part of the movement. "I love knowing that my efforts will help try to elect a man that needs to be the next president of the United States," Jarema said. She has rallied support from fellow intelligence studies major sophomore Scott Inman. "All the people at the headquarters always are so fired up and you get a really good vibe seeing all kinds of people that are young and old, from all kinds of diverse backgrounds, working together and making calls or canvassing," Inman said. Jarema agreed, but also realized there’s much more work ahead. "We have a lot of great volunteers, but we are also aware of how important it is for Obama to do well in Pennsylvania," said Jarema. For students, like freshman Chris Nagy, this will be the first election in which they vote. "Working with the Obama campaign and understanding the things he wants for this country is a great experience, especially on my part since it will be the first presidential election I get to vote in," said Nagy.
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