For John Wesley ’06, something clicked when Howard Dean spoke.
“When I heard Dean’s speeches, I felt chills,” he said. “John Kerry is boring—when I hear him speak, I feel nothing.”
Wesley, who is Wesleyan’s “Generation Dean” coordinator and who even traveled to Iowa to volunteer for Dean, now must find a new way to channel his enthusiasm.
With the front-loaded primary system, a lot has changed in the Democratic field in the past month. Dean, Wesley Clark, and Richard Gephardt, all of whom at some point showed much promise, have all dropped out.
This has left John Edwards fighting to stop the momentum of frontrunner Kerry, while Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton clamor for what little public support they can get.
To complicate matters, consumer advocate Ralph Nader announced his candidacy as an Independent on Sunday, adding a new twist to the election.
Wesleyan students have mixed reactions to the demise of Dean’s candidacy and the primary process as a whole.
Wesley encourages people to continue to vote for Dean, who will still be on the ballot even though he is no longer officially running.
“We owe him that for the incredible grassroots movement that he created and his message of hope,” Wesley said.
While Dean was popular at Wesleyan, other supporters are more pragmatic now that he is out of the race. Tom Coen ’07 was also a Dean supporter.
“I’m not a big Kerry fan,” he said. “I think he’s waffled on too many issues, but if he’s the nominee, I’m going to support him because the most important thing is that Bush doesn’t get re-elected.”
Some students complained less about the candidates than the process through which they are chosen.
“I wish all the primaries in all the states were on the same day because I don’t feel I have a say,” said Carl Lowenberg ’06, a resident of Massachusetts.
While a popular choice, not all Wesleyan students were supporting Dean.
“I was supporting Edwards until his protectionist bid,” said Max Kates ’06 referring to Edwards’ anti-NAFTA sentiments. “I’m too pragmatic to support Nader even though I’m sympathetic to some of his platforms.”
The Nader factor scares some Democrats. Nader is often credited with spoiling Al Gore’s campaign in 2000. He received 97,488 votes in Florida, while Bush defeated Gore by a mere 537 to win the election.
“I was hoping that [Nader] wouldn’t run,” Coen said. “There really is a big difference between the Democratic nominee and the Republican nominee no matter what you hear from him.”
Coen hopes Nader will pull out and send his supporters to the Democratic nominee.
“When the battle of the left-wing is with someone like George W. Bush, I know that we must stand together and support one candidate, rather than spreading our allegiance thin,” Wesley said.
The Wesleyan Democrats (WesDems) have decided not to endorse any candidate in the primary. The group’s newly elected president, Betti Packman ’07, says they will support whoever the nominee is.
Packman thinks whoever is nominated can win the general election, despite some negative comments from pundits. “I do think we have a shot,” she said. “Polls are looking optimistic, and I think both Kerry and Edwards are strong candidates.”
The WesDems will be hosting a forum Thursday night to allow Wesleyan students to interact with representatives from the candidates who are still in the race.
Bill Kellogg ’07 confessed he had not been following the campaign closely. As of Sunday he was still displaying a large Howard Dean placard in his window. He left it up, he said, as “Vermont pride.” He says he’s not a big fan of Kerry.
Dean had much support among college students. Some political analysts consider his use of the Internet and young people as a minor revolution. Now that he is out of the race, most feel the movement will lose intensity as most members transition to backing another nominee.
“Dean supporters wanted a change from the mainstream Washington political inside,” Wesley said.
Coen says they plan to transform the Dean movement into a grassroots effort to support the Democratic presidential bid.
“Dean brought an incredible number of people into politics,” he said.
The challenge for Democrats will be to keep those newly interested people in the fold.
“That will be a huge legacy of this campaign season if that actually happens,” Coen said.
The primary election will take place in Connecticut on March 2.
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