Remember when Mr. Smith went to Washington? Well last night Mr. Merrick went to Dartmouth College.
Merrick, who graduated from Tufts last year, went to support presidential candidate and Tufts alum Bill Richardson (A '70, F '71) at the Democratic debate there.
He and his co-leader, sophomore Miriam Briskman, were joined by around 55 other Jumbos on the trip. Forty were there to provide political support and the other 15 to lend their vocal chords.
Tufts Students for Bill Richardson spent yesterday evening advertising Richardson's campaign in anticipation of the debate.
They held posters until about 8:30 p.m. at which point they headed to his local campaign headquarters for a debate-watching party which started at 9 p.m.
Merrick said he was happy with the Tufts presence.
"To get 40 kids from Tufts University on a Wednesday night ... is very impressive," he said. "It shows the support that Richardson has among the young voters."
Meanwhile, the Beelzebubs were also at Dartmouth.
Since last week they had been scheduled to sing for Richardson's campaign supporters.
"We thought we were just doing some cocktail warming up [for] those bigwigs," group member Doug Terry said.
But Tuesday morning sophomore Bub Matt McCormick received a call from Richardson's public relations department asking if the group would be interested in playing on MSNBC's show "Hardball with Chris Matthews," which was there for the debate.
McCormick said it was "a really great opportunity" for the Bubs, so the group members cleared their schedules and went.
While they were ultimately not able to sing on the show, they did sing "Tuftonia's Day" several times at the debate site. They also performed later in the night.
Merrick said they had a big effect on the Dartmouth crowd, as they were "singing louder than the people were yelling."
Before heading back to Tufts, students in his on-campus support group planned to wait for an up-close look and a handshake with Richardson.
"One of the big reasons that they're coming is because they want to meet him," Merrick said.
The effort to get Richardson elected did not end last night, as Merrick said there are other campaign trips planned for Tufts students in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The group will also try to promote his name around campus.
These tactics are not new for Merrick. He was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 2004 and this past summer he served as Richardson's Northern Regional Field Director in the state. In that post, he organized events and recruited campaign support.
Those Merrick helped convince to support Richardson include two of his colleagues: Yvonne Thomas and, of course, his mother Evalyn Merrick, who also happens to have a legislative seat.
