Stop the Madness

I’ve lost a lot of things since arriving at Harvard nearly two and a half years ago, including (but not limited to): three ID cards, a Texas accent, approximately 12 pairs of socks, my sanity, a copy of “Mean Girls,” and one galosh. Oh yeah, and my attachment to the Democratic Party at Harvard.

Yes, I arrived at Harvard with my thick Southern accent still intact, wearing a Harvard Dems baseball jersey I bought my pre-frosh weekend. I was gung-ho about John Kerry and I campaigned every weekend for him. November 3 was a sad morning-after.

Flash forward two years and nationally the Democrats are (finally) in power, and the Harvard College Democrats appear to be the loftiest, most influential organization on campus. But their prominence on campus is now a mutated takeover, one that resembles some horrific virus from a Michael Crichton science-fiction saga. I’ve got the Center for Disease Control on speed dial because many of my liberal compatriots are infected by something that I fear may be highly contagious.

I am, of course, speaking about the “Students for” sickness.

There are Students for Hillary. Students for Obama. Students for Edwards, even Students for Dodd (whoever the Hell that is). At one point there were even a few sad-sacks who actually thought Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa was a legitimate heir to the presidential throne.

Mere weeks after making unprecedented strides in a midterm election, the Democratic Party morphed into an “in it to win it” race for the White House. How about the race to properly control the Senate or Congress? I know I should blame the dozens of politicians who have thrown in their hat toward a White House bid, but the madness has permeated our campus.

This whole phenomenon is meaningless prognostication concerning a presidential election that is over 600 days away. Do you know what can happen in that span of time? You could walk the Great Wall of China 2880 times. And all that walking is a heck of a lot healthier for you than robotically touting a presidential candidate in a swing state 20 months before ballots will be cast.

But in all earnestness, how could the majority of Democrats on this campus become so woefully misguided? While one should keep a diligent eye upon the White House, there is more important work to be done than this early campaign nonsense.

The Dow Jones crashed pretty badly a few days ago. The globe is a-warming up as I write this. And, I hear from casually watching the evening news, that there is a war somewhere.

The hoopla surrounding the presidential race in 2008 is detracting from productive politics (possibly an oxymoron, but I have hope for now). I always thought Harvard students were intelligent, but it seems a number of us have been seduced by the appeal of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

I know it’s tempting to jump on board a “Students for” bandwagon, but there are several compelling reasons to hold off for at least a couple of months.

First, unless you were born there (in which case, I’m sorry), New Hampshire is a state that could literally fall off the American map and nobody would notice. It is a godforsaken backwoods of nothingness that for a few weeks out of the year has fall foliage—get a postcard, it lasts longer. Their state motto may be “live free or die,” but I would advocate for “live free or die of boredom.”

Second, you have to think about your safety. Do the people of New Hampshire even want politicos in their granite state this soon? If a rag-tag group of hooligans (otherwise known as campaigners) invaded my neighborhood—well, there’s a reason I’m a pro-gun liberal.

Lastly, if you cut out the early campaigning, you’ll have time to meet other politically-friendly peers on this campus who agree that 2008 doesn’t belong in 2007. Granted, this means Republicans, but while there may be enclaves of “Students for Romney” or “Students for McCain,” the Grand Old Party is wisely not as consumed with presidential wet dreams.

To be fair, I am not blaming the Harvard College Democrats for getting needlessly preoccupied with the 2008 election. The media has so saturated our society with the latest gossip on what’s happening on the campaign trail, it’s no wonder people have turned into cyborgs, mindlessly going into New Hampshire to spread the gospel of Obama, Hillary, or this Dodd fellow.

And it is worth noting that perhaps my displeasure with all these groups stems from a lack of candidates who speak for me. For example, if Russ Feingold, a politician who I have an immense amount of respect for, was still in the race, I would be more sympathetic towards helping out on a campaign trail.

Although, even for Feingold, I doubt I’d be willing to sacrifice my weekends this early to travel to the miserable oblivion that is New Hampshire.



Jessica C. Coggins ’08 is a women, gender, and sexuality studies concentrator in Cabot House. Her column appears on alternate Thursdays.