Super Tuesday at Harvard: Republicans Win Paintball Match

Republicans kicked off Super Tuesday with a victory—but in the paintball arena, not at the polls. As members of the Harvard College Democrats and Harvard Republican Club took aim and dodged bullets at their annual “paintball brawl,” they joined students and professors throughout campus celebrating Super Tuesday yesterday.

Harvard affiliates and Cambridge residents packed the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics to watch the results from 24 state presidential primaries roll in on the big screen television.

Interim Forum Director Noelia Rodriguez said that students flocked to the forum because of the significance of the election.

“This is an important election that will define America for years to come,” she said.

Rodriguez, a Barack Obama supporter, emphasized the excitement and involvement that students have shown for candidates in both parties in this election.

“I think the primaries are an amazing expression of democracy in the U.S.,” said Kennedy School student Cristina Arango, a native of Colombia and supporter of Hillary Clinton who watched the results come in at the IOP.

“I think it’s the best thing that can happen for Latin America,” said Arango of a Clinton victory. “I think there is a huge link between the Clinton family and Latin America.”

Many students watched the results come in at parties in the Houses, sponsored by the Government department.

North of the Yard, members of the Harvard Law School Students for Obama group spent the day calling voters on behalf of the Law School grad.

Obama supporters also received a visit from former presidential candidate Senator John F. Kerry, who stopped by the phone bank early in the day to talk to students about why he was voting for Obama.

After returning to campus, the Harvard Democrats and Republicans assembled in the Winthrop Junior Common Room to watch the results over pizza and soda.

“In the spirit of bipartisanship, we decided to come together to watch the election results come in,” said Republican Club president Caleb L. Weatherl ’10.

But that spirit didn’t carry into the paintball arena.

“We knew we were going to emerge victorious,” Weatherl said, “but the question was how much we were going to beat them.”

—Staff Writer Lauren D. Kiel can be reached at lkiel@fas.harvard.edu.