Reich Garners Student Support

By DAVID S. HIRSCH

AND CHRISTOPHER M. LOOMIS

CRIMSON STAFF WRITERs

It’s quiet on campus.

Even as the Massachusetts Democratic Party prepares for one of the most hotly contested gubernatorial primaries in recent history and Republicans jockey for position in the race for Lieutenant Governor, Harvard political organizations show little signs of life.

In one notable exception, however, Democratic candidate and former Harvard Lecturer Robert B. Reich has made his presence felt on campus—and been rewarded with active student support.

In the Donkey’s Lair

In the Democratic gubernatorial race, four candidates—Reich, Shannon P. O’Brien, Warren E. Tolman and Thomas F. Birmingham ’72—are vying for their party’s place on the ballot for the general election on Nov. 5. While O’Brien has taken a strong lead in recent polls, the outcome of tomorrow’s primary is hardly a foregone conclusion.

Choosing to focus their main effort on supporting the candidate who wins the primary, the Harvard College Democrats (HCD) will not endorse a candidate for the primary election.

HCD formed campaign subcommittees to support the gubernatorial candidates last spring, but with the exception of the Reich camp, these groups have failed to gain much momentum.

The Tolman subcommittee cites a lack of leadership in drumming up support for their candidate, while an O’Brien subcommittee failed to materialize due to lack of interest amongst the HCD membership.

While the Birmingham subcommittee does have a contact list of several dozen names, their primary concern has been getting subcommittee members to the polls.

Following the primary, HCD is planning a series of events to unify its members’ support for the winner of the primary election. In the event of an O’Brien victory, the strategy may help to bring the large corps of Reich supporters into the winner’s camp.

“People are going to be upset [if Reich does not win],” says Jessica L. Diaz ’05, communications director for HCD. “But then they are going to realize [Republican candidate] Mitt Romney may be ahead in the polls.”

Diaz says HCD events after the primary will focus on providing members—who may not be enamored with the Democratic nominee—with opportunities to get a taste of the “campaign experience,” as well as to meet other Democrats throughout the state, rather than supporting a specific candidate.

Sonia H. Kastner ’03, president of HCD, says the group, in cooperation with the Institute of Politics (IOP) is also planning a bus trip to New Hampshire on Sept. 28 to kick-off the group’s campaign effort.

Kastner says the trips would continue every Saturday until the general election and will provide support for several candidates involved in toughly contested races, including the senatorial race between Jeanne Shaheen (D) and John E. Sununu (R).

“This is going to be something that’s going to be unprecedented on campus,” Kastner says. “Working with the IOP, this is going to be one of the biggest campaign trips that this campus has seen in a long time.”

In addition, the HCD is planning on signing up groups to work three-hour evening shifts at the state party office in Boston during the weeks leading up to the general election. Kastner says students will make phone calls, arrange literature and organize mailings.

The Elephant Looms

W. Mitt Romney remains the lone Republican candidate in the gubernatorial race, but two candidates—Kerry M. Healey ’82 and Jim Rappaport—are contending for the lieutenant gubernatorial position.

Like HCD, the Harvard Republican Club (HRC) has chosen to remain officially neutral until after the primary.

“We haven’t been in town long enough where picking a side would make a difference,” says Brian C. Grech ’03, president of HRC.

However, Grech adds that the members of club are about evenly divided in supporting the two candidates for lieutenant governor.

Ernani J. Dearaujo ’03, speakers director for HRC, echoes the dilemma faced by many of the club’s members.

“I really respect Jim Rappaport for going to the grass-roots of the party here in Boston and state-wide,” he says. “But I and most Republicans feel that Kerry Murphy Healy would be the best addition to the ticket in terms of the general election.”

Both Grech and Dearaujo say that the HRC would make a strong effort to support Romney and as his as yet to be determined running mate, as well as candidates in the New Hampshire elections.

Little Man, Big Presence

While most candidates have lacked much active support on campus, Reich’s campaign has made its mark on the Harvard community—and it is the mark Harvard left on Reich that he claims inspired his run for governor.

In a packed Science Center auditorium filled with students, faculty and Cambridge residents on Friday, Reich told the crowd that questions about “political courage” asked of him in a Harvard religion class at which he lectured were a large factor in his decision to enter the gubernatorial race.

Brought to campus by Harvard Students for Reich—a group that the candidate said is largely composed of students from that religion class—the former secretary of labor stressed the importance of college students’ involvement in the public sphere.

“In your lives and in these years at college, you are making decisions,” he said. “I urge you to spend time in the fray...of social justice.”

As part of his “Get Out the Vote” initiative, Reich stresses the importance of college students in the electoral process.

“I’m relying on college student to help with the Get Out the Vote drive,” Reich told The Crimson. “A lot of the momentum [in my campaign] over the last nine months has come from [them].”

President of Harvard Students for Reich Peter P. Buttigieg ’04 concurs, citing students as an important source of volunteer labor.

“[The Reich campaign] simply can’t compete with the tremendous sums of money raised by other candidates, especially the Republicans,” he says. “Students and other volunteer support will be the critical factor in whether we have a victory on Tuesday.”

Reich’s campaign appears well aware of the importance of college campuses in the electoral process—a philosophy that it has incorporated into its “grassroots” approach.

In campaigning, Reich has spoken at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Wellesley College, Middlesex Community College and Williams College—many of which have strong organizations in support of his campaign.

As a professor at Brandeis University, Reich also tends toward an intellectual tone and stresses that such dialogue need not be isolated from action in the public arena.

“The life of the mind and the life of action are not mutually exclusive,” he said on Friday. “They go together...the life of social action must have reflection, thought and analysis.”

Reich’s emphasis on civil action and liberal ideas—which he reiterated during Friday’s speech—may be attractive on college campuses, but he explains the role of students in politics from a moral perspective.

“Politics is not something you hold your nose to,” he says. “It is democracy in action.”

—Staff writer David S. Hirsch can be reached at hirsch@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Christopher M. Loomis can be reached at cloomis@fas.harvard.edu.