Campaigns Take Causes to Campus

Filling out a voter registration form at the lone table sporting a “Bush/Quayle ‘92” sign, Janet O’Rear stopped a moment to survey the rest of the Valley College quad, then laughed.

“I’m the only Republican here probably,” said O’Rear, a graphic design student from Northridge who has pledged her vote to President Bush. “I’m the only one standing over here. Everyone’s over there with Clinton and Gore.”

The Democratic presidential nominee and his running mate weren’t actually there in person on the Van Nuys campus Wednesday, but a cluster of young people during the lunch hour buzzed about the booth set up in support of them.

Others hovered over tables staffed by gay and lesbian students, abortion-rights advocates and environmental groups--all sporting registration forms as part of a daylong drive to encourage young people to get out and “rock the vote,” regardless of what position they take.

In an election year with one of the youngest presidential candidates in recent political history, young adults have suddenly become an attractive voting bloc, despite the fact that only 40% of voters between 18 and 29 cast a ballot in the last presidential election. The campaign of Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, especially, has taken aim at the heart of American youth, scheduling appearances by the Democratic nominee on the Arsenio Hall Show and even MTV.

At Valley College on Wednesday, the Clinton camp indeed seemed to benefit most by the registration effort as several neophyte voters said they were leaning toward the Democratic ticket.

“I don’t like anything at all that Bush has done. I’m not impressed,” said Aileen Prera, who stopped to register after her morning English class. “I didn’t think my vote would make a difference, but watching TV and seeing everyone get into it, I started thinking maybe I could get my President of choice.”

Clinton “supports my views more so than Bush,” agreed Jon Bodemer of Newhall, who nonetheless declined to specify a party affiliation on his registration form.

Although he and a friend registered Wednesday--out of “guilt,” according to his friend--Bodemer echoed several students who said they probably would have neglected to sign up if one of the many civic-minded volunteers hadn’t accosted him as he strolled through the sun-splashed quad.

One of the more diligent workers was Cyrano Adlawan, a Clinton-Gore campaign staff member who hauled in more than a dozen new voters of both parties in two hours. Young people, Adlawan acknowledged, are a hard set to tap.

“You need a promotion,” he said, as a crowd of students mobbed a nearby van laden with free cassettes from a popular radio station. “You’re not going to get them in front of a department store. . . . You need a gimmick.”

Not everyone was a Clinton supporter at Wednesday’s event, which also featured local bands and speakers such as Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman (D-Los Angeles).

One of the most ardent backers of the Bush-Quayle ticket was John Mina, an English major who manned an antiabortion booth--the only booth at the event decorated with signs in support of the Bush-Quayle ticket.

Ironically, however, Mina himself cannot cast a ballot for his favored team, who he is sure will win in November.

“I have a few more years before I become a citizen,” the Philippines native said. “I’m looking forward to the day I can go out and vote.”