Students Rock Cambridge Vote

Harvard students joined Cantabrigians at the polls yesterday, marking their choices for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations.

From 6:30 a.m. on, dozens of volunteers and elected vote watchers staffed the seven polling locations in mid-Cambridge--the Putnam Apartments on Putnam Ave., Quincy House, the Friends' Center on Mt. Auburn Street, Gund Hall, 29 Garden Street, the Agassiz School and the Peabody School. The polls closed at 8 p.m.

According to local precinct committee-persons, turnout held between 25 to 30 percent in the area around Harvard.

Massachusetts state election administrators had predicted a statewide turnout of more than 40 percent.

The Commonwealth has an open primary system, meaning that independents can vote for candidates of any party.

Although Vice President Al Gore '69 won big in the state as a whole, early returns indicated that Cambridge voters supported former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley.

"I voted for Bradley, partly because I agree with his policies,[but] I also like and respect his character," said Sarah T. Evans, a graduate student at the Harvard Medical School. "I'm not confident he'll win, but I think it's important for Gore to know that not all Democrats are behind him."

Said David I. L. Beecher '00, "I chose [Bradley] over Gore because he's not in the pocket of as many industries."

Most Harvard students did not vote in Massachusetts yesterday.

A January Crimson survey found that 75 percent of undergraduates are registered to vote. Of those registered, one in seven are Massachusetts voters.

Some students chose not to vote, here or elsewhere, citing their lack of interest in the early electoral contests.

"This is just a primary, it's not a big deal to me," said Damian Wisniewski '01, a registered Democrat in New York. "The Democratic race is over...Bradley has been done since New Hampshire," he said.

According to exit polls, McCain's victory in Massachusetts was due in large part to his image as a reformer. He scored high among Democrats and independents alike. Large numbers of Democratic voters switched their affiliations so that they could vote for McCain.

But McCain garnered most of his support from Republicans.

"John McCain is the only candidate who truly embodies a spirit of reform," said Bradley J. Olson '03, a registered Mass. Republican who voted yesterday. "He has been able to draw great support from an American public who wants to restore honesty and integrity to the White House."

In New York, where McCain and Bradley were hoping for a victory in the popular vote, turnout was high and lines spilled onto sidewalks several times throughout the day.

"McCain is refreshing and new...I don't think Bush has what it takes to lead this country," said Caroline E. Smith, a Manhattan resident.

Voters in the state were intrigued the conflict between Bush and McCain, focusing on two recent ads sponsored by friends of Bush which attack McCain's record on the environment and breast cancer research.

Some New York City voters said they were particularly offended by the ad which suggested that McCain does not care about cancer research.

On Upper East Side of New York last night, voters leaving the polls discussed the issue. One noted that McCain's sister is a survivor of breast cancer.

Other voters said that though McCain and Bradley attracted them ideologically, they lamented the incontrovertible evidence that George W. Bush and Gore would likely win.

"I voted for Gore, because Bradley is a lost cause," said Joan McHammond of Manhattan.

--Parker R. Conrad reported from New York.