The Tufts Democrats hosted a diverse panel at the Forum for Youth Involvement in Politics Wednesday night, where guests included a Tufts graduate, Howard Dean's former campaign manager, and a wrestling star.
The three panelists at the forum were former Campaign Chairman for Howard Dean Steve Grossman, Judge George Harrison and Voting Advocate Chris Nowinski.
The forum focused on student involvement in the upcoming election and the importance of student participation in grassroots politics.
Grossman, a trustee of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the former Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Committee, was the first to speak.
He began the round-table discussion with of examples of grassroots success in American politics over the past 30 years. "Stories are more reasonable than rhetoric," he said.
All three panelists stressed the significance of voting and student outreach to encourage political involvement. Grossman referred to the three greatest events in recent history as "the civil rights movement, Vietnam, and the current movement to re-engage political participation in the United States."
"We have a far more educated voter electorate than we've ever had," Grossman said.
Harrison, who graduated from Tufts in the 1950s, emphasized the need for a candidate who demonstrated "trustworthiness and forthrightness." He said Tufts students had come a long way since his days on campus, when the young Democrats club was virtually non-existent.
Perhaps the most surprising speaker was World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestler Chris Nowinski. The Harvard graduate, known for his WWE persona "Chris Harvard," was quite different from what the audience may have expected. Students waiting to see an equivalent of The Rock were met with a well-spoken, well-dressed young man.
Nowinski, a bipartisan political correspondent for WWE's Smackdown the Vote campaign, said that his personal history in politics developed during his college years in Boston.
The panelists had a lot to say about today's upcoming presidential debate. "I would like to see my candidate [John Kerry] mention and specifically speak to the youth of America," Grossman said.
All three speakers agreed that in order to win, Kerry would have to speak to the agenda of young people. "You don't really notice [its relevance] when you're a student," Nowinski said. "But wait until you have to worry about health care."
During a question and answer session one student asked about the speakers' attitudes towards youth-popular satirical news programs like the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The panelists had varied reactions to this question.
"The Daily Show is my only source of news," Nowinski quipped. More seriously, Nowinski said that shows like The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live do give a skewed version of the issues but "they improve everyone's media savvy."
Grossman spoke for the advantages of political satire, including public awareness and humor in politics.
But Harrison remained indifferent. "I don't know if its D-a-l-y or D-a-i-l-y - it's probably on after 10, so I'm asleep," he joked.
