In reaction to the narrow victory in the 2000 presidential elections and to the current political climate, students at Yale gathered a coalition of activists, including students at Wesleyan, in hopes of influencing swing states. The program, called 2004ward, has also spread to other northeast campuses, including Princeton, Columbia, and Wellesley.
According to Noah Dobin-Bernstein, a sophomore at Yale and one of the founders of the organization, students are looking to involve themselves in a movement that encompasses many issues and also helps to register citizens to vote.
“From women’s rights to environmental justice, from quality education to universal healthcare access, from labor struggles to the promotion of peace and civil liberties, our vested interest compels us to speak up for our generation,” as stated on the coalition’s website, www.2004ward.com.
Shayla Silver-Balbus ’06, after participating in a voter registration program run by the Wesleyan Democrats, decided to search online for other projects and discovered 2004ward. Currently, Silver-Balbus is hoping to assemble five groups of five students to participate in 2004ward during the forthcoming summer.
“I sent out an e-mail to a variety of list-serves and received initial interests from 60-70 students,” Silver- Balbus said. “We just had a meeting with [Dobin-Bernstein] and 40 students. In the next few weeks we are going to organize final teams.”
Although the group is non-partisan and supported by non-partisan organizations, the unstated mission of 2004ward is to replace President Bush, register new voters and increase political awareness on a local and national level.
Swing states appeal to 2004ward because they have decided elections and do not vote specifically on party lines. These states include, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Florida. The aforementioned states were won by a margin of less than 6 percent in the last election and in most cases fraction of percents.
“Right now we’re looking for student support in the Northeast because most of the states are not swing states,” Dobin-Bernstein said. “The northeast is full of universities and we wanted to find students a paid opportunity to get into politics.”
The operation is currently offering students $1,500 and students on financial aid $2,500 for ten weeks of work and includes housing. Four major organizations: Project Democracy, The League of Conservation Voters, USAction and ACORN have helped to subsidize the student salaries.
With three of the five student groups from Wesleyan registered, Silver-Balbus said she is encouraged by the support, but still searching for more participants. All who register will be required to distribute voting information on the highly politicized issues to help constituents to become more informed and active in politics.
“Students will work on issues coming up in the election and gain knowledge of politics and local skills,” Silver-Balbus said.
Silver-Balbus said that the Democratic primaries have brought attention to 2004ward.
“I know a lot of people attracted to the project because they didn’t have a particular candidate to support. [Through 2004ward] they can support politics in other ways,” Silver-Balbus said.
For any questions, please contact Shayla Silver-Balbus at ss**********@******an.edu.
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