After months of work to inspire supporters, register voters and boost turnout, the Tufts Democrats are looking at today's presidential election with cautious confidence.
"I'm loath to believe that anything is a sure win, but I'm feeling optimistic," said junior Shana Hurley, president of the Tufts Democrats.
This semester has shown an unparalleled increase in student participation among the Tufts Dems.
The group started canvassing for Sen. Barack Obama in New Hampshire during the first week of the semester and is continuing its efforts through today.
According to junior Benjamin Silver, who organized the New Hampshire canvassing efforts, close to 130 students went to Raymond, N.H., this past weekend, and another 40 are planning on canvassing today. He said that all told, these efforts will have accounted for knocks on between 15,000 and 20,000 doors.
"At this point in the campaign, when it's time for the get-out-the-vote effort … our focus shifts from undecided voters to our supporters," Silver said.
This semester, Hurley said, students have focused on talking to New Hampshire voters and "taking their temperature." Today, they are planning on tracking down the supporters they have identified and making sure they get to the polls.
"We'll give them a ride if they need it," Hurley said. "Literally every vote counts in New Hampshire."
The most recent polls show Obama with a significant but not impenetrable lead.
RealClearPolitics.com's most recent aggregate puts the Democrat ahead of rival Sen. John McCain by 7.3 percentage points.
The Democrats have employed phone banking in another major initiative. Tufts Students for Barack Obama (SFBO), a subgroup of the Tufts Dems, have set up weekly calling centers to identify New Hampshire voters likely to vote for Obama.
SFBO's on-campus efforts have focused mainly on increasing voter registration in the Tufts student body. Organized in conjunction with Hillel and the non-partisan group Tufts Votes, SFBO's registration drive aimed to make the registration and absentee ballot process more user-friendly for students. "It's really difficult to vote when you're in college," said Beata Bujalska, a graduate student and co-leader of SFBO. "Some people are really confused as to how to go about it."
Hurley said that the drive registered 170 students and collected 130 absentee ballot request forms.
The Tufts Dems' initiatives have spread past the presidential election. Hurley said that they have also campaigned for U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), a 1975 graduate of the School of Arts and Sciences, and sent 30 students out to campaign for Massachusetts state Rep. Carl Sciortino (LA '00).
The Tufts Dems have seen a drastic increase in student involvement, compared to that of the presidential election four years ago. Douglas Foote (LA '08), who currently works at the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, said, "I think that [the] experience of disappointment [in 2004] galvanized a lot of people … to work over the next two years and four years to help reverse some of these things."
Foote, who also works for the Obama campaign in New Hampshire, said, "This election is seen as a defining moment much more than [the election was] four years ago."
He added, "I think Obama has done a much better job than [Sen. John] Kerry in terms of youth involvement. Getting youth involved is a centerpiece of the Obama campaign rather than several steps down the ladder."
Foote said that student involvement in canvassing has tripled since the 2004 election, which occurred during his freshman year.
The Tufts Dems have seen some success in reaching across party lines. The Democrats have had several Republicans working on their efforts, Silver said. He added that he identified himself as an independent at the start of the election.
Despite Obama's promising stature this Election Day — he leads McCain by between five and 10 points in most polls — the Democrats are hesitant to expect a sure win and are making sure that their work in New Hampshire does not go unnoticed.
"In general, we have to be optimistic, but I do think that Barack Obama is in a very good position to win this on Tuesday and that at this point, we aren't looking for any major game changers; we're just looking to get our supporters to the polls," Silver said.
The Tufts Dems will be watching the election results with members of the greater student body in the campus center tonight during tonight's Election Night Extravaganza.
