“Our next presidential election is just 35 days away and the University of Akron’s College Republicans are getting ready. Chairman Jason Ziegler, a construction engineering major, states We are doing some things differently; we are a lot more active. Ziegler and the College Republicans are trying to reach out to the student population in an effort to get their support for their presidential candidate Senator John McCain.”
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Our next presidential election is just 35 days away and the University of Akron’s College Republicans are getting ready.

Chairman Jason Ziegler, a construction engineering major, states We are doing some things differently; we are a lot more active. Ziegler and the College Republicans are trying to reach out to the student population in an effort to get their support for their presidential candidate Senator John McCain.

They have already signed 200 new people to their mailing list. The participation increased in their organization in the past two months. They are recruiting new members, more than they have in the past, so they can build up their volunteer base.

We have a pretty good organization this year because of the presidential election, Ziegler states.

He adds, Throughout the seven days of the week we could get 40 different people volunteering for the Republican Party.

The College Republicans have been reaching out to students encourage their involvement in McCain’s campaign as well as the Republican Party. They have been setting up tables at the Student Union from 10-2 p.m. Providing students with information about their organization and ways to become a new member. They will also hold events throughout the months leading to the election to bring people together and talk about the issues they believe are important. They encourage students to attend their weekly meetings on Monday at 8 p.m. in Student Union room 308. Membership is not required to attend their meetings. Students can decide later if they would like to join. They are also active in voter registration and are currently volunteering for the Summit County GOP, located at 502 S. Main Street in Akron.

Ziegler adds that they will draw about 50 people to an individual event and have about 30 students attend their meetings on Mondays.

The College Republicans give incentives to their volunteers such as T-shirts and McCain apparel, and the top five volunteers have the chance to go on a free trip to the CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, in the spring.

When asked why it’s important for students to get involved with this election Zeigler replies, People our age don’t realize that the decisions that are being made right now are going to affect us more so five or ten years down the road. A lot of the decisions that are going to be made over the next four to eight years with this president are go into to hit us harder than they are the 40, 50 and 60 year olds in the future.

He continues, There are a lot of issues that we kind of ignore, people our age, like social security. We’re paying into that now and we are going to pay a lot more money over the next 30-40 years of our life, and there’s a pretty good chance that it’s not going to be there. That’s the one thing Republicans and both Democrats can agree on with social security, is that eventually we are not going to be able to pay everybody. That’s something that needs to be addressed now so that it can be fixed in the future for us.

When comparing student involvement either with the College Republicans or the College Democrats during the current election, Ziegler reveals, It’s probably bigger for the College Democrats just because the democrats our age, are probably a lot more excited. Excited to finally, hopefully, get a another democrat in office. So I think they are going to see a larger amount of volunteers than we would; just naturally because they have had eight years of a republican president.

The College Republicans are also helping another unofficial organization called Students for McCain. They believe this organization will allow democrats who support John McCain, or who supported Hillary Clinton, and want to help McCain feel comfortable.

They would just support McCain and not the entire republican platform, giving them a way to help McCain without having to participate and join the College Republicans.

To get involved or get more information, students can go to the College Republican pod space located in the Hub, e-mail Jason Ziegler at [email protected] or attend their meetings every Monday at 8 p.m. in Student Union room 308.

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