Wrestlers Grapple With Voter Apathy

Two World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) heavyweights took a brief respite from bashing opponents’ heads yesterday, tag-teaming with the Institute of Politics (IOP) to raise voter awareness in front of the Science Center.

Christopher J. Nowinski ’00—who performs under the stage name “Chris Harvard”—and the wrestler “Bradshaw” scoured the walkways between Annenberg and the Yard, pitying any fool who was not registered to vote.

The two wrestlers, flanked by IOP fellow and former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, offered free “Voting Is For Young People” t-shirts in exchange for their voter registration information.

For those who wouldn’t take part, Nowinski took the message to them.

“I went into Annenberg and I was one of those guys who got up on the chair and yelled at all the kids,” said Nowinski, who refrained from smashing any furniture during his brief foray into the first-year dining hall. “As I walked off, I’m like, ‘I used to hate those guys when I sat in there.’”

But beyond Nowinski’s bellow and the swarms of cameras filming for last night’s taping of UPN’s “Smackdown,” the WWE performers were hardly distinguishable from their IOP partners.

“This is Harvard,” Nowinski said. “We can’t bring out the full circus. You have to have a little respect.”

Though the IOP launches a registration drive each fall during orientation week, the joint effort marked the first time such an undertaking has been carried out during the spring semester, according to IOP Director of National Programs Jennifer Phillips.

Though many were not persuaded by the wrestlers, the ease of registering on the way to and from class was more than sufficient in roping in a few slackers.

“I need to register somewhere,” Paul D. Franz ’07 said. “I’m extremely lazy and disorganized.”

Working as part of a national push to galvanize historically apathetic youths, the teams attempted not just to register new voters, but also to create a database to notify out-of-state students about absentee ballots.

“Our IOP study says that at least 39 percent of college students across the country are going to vote in their home state,” Phillips said. “But a third of those aren’t sure how to vote absentee. So we want to make sure that we get them good information so that we can not only get them registered but get them voting.”

Preliminary tallies after the event indicated that about 50 new voters were added to the rolls, but nearly five times as many filled out basic information to receive warning prior to their states’ deadlines.

The campaign, incorporating efforts from MTV’s “Choose or Lose” and the Youth Vote Coalition, seeks not only to register more voters, but to more effectively voice concerns not shared by those in other demographics.

“I heard the same thing over and over again: They don’t talk about anything that concerns us,” Ventura said. “If you look at the last presidential [election], the two main issues were Social Security and medical prescription drugs. Well of course that’s not for young people.”

The groups providing the drive’s support, however, hope to change that perspective for all parties involved, especially the “career politicians” who tend to focus on the elderly, knowing they are more likely to vote.

Characterizing the 18 to 30 age bracket as 20 million strong and up for grabs, the wrestlers said young voters can become a deciding force in future elections.

“I’ve told them the perfect way,” Ventura said. “Become the third-party movement. Then I guarantee they’ll pay attention to you.”

While that sweeping change in the political landscape is not yet forthcoming, Ventura stressed the importance of a single vote, not to mention such an untapped mass of them.

“People say, ‘Well, your vote doesn’t count,’” Ventura said. “Well my response to that is tell that to Vice President Al Gore.”

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu