"There were a lot of things with the election that weren't quite kosher," says David R. Ackley '91, who ran against Anderson on a more moderate platform and had to settle for the vice presidency. "But it really doesn't matter now."

Anderson denies that he did anything wrong by "stacking" the election with voters he knew would support his candidacy.

"If I hadn't brought those people in, there wouldn't have been anyone there," Anderson says. "I'm under the impression that in any election you should know even before you enter the room that you're going to win. If you don't, you've done something wrong."

A 'Hub of Conservative Thought'

Anderson promised to turn the HRC into the "hub of conservative thought on campus," and he has kept his promise.

The executive board consists of ideologues like Joseph I. Zumpano '91, a self-described "religious-based, dynamic conservative," Sean P. McLaughlin '91 the co-editor of the conservative Peninsula, Kenneth D. DeGeorgio '93, the co-founder of Association Against Learning in the Absence of Religion and Morality (AALARM), and Michael A. Reynolds '91, the president of the Conservative Club. With Anderson in charge, the HRC has reached its highest level of activity in recent years.

Even former HRC President R. Alexander Acosta '90 admits that last year's club was plagued by apathy and an inability to take a stand.

"Last year, we didn't want to scare away people on the fringe," Acosta says. "By not taking stands, everyone was happy, but no one was excited."

Resigning in Protest

This year, not everyone is happy. Valeria E. Scott '92, Sanders J. Chae '92 and Peter B. Rutledge '92 have all resigned from the executive board in protest of Anderson's extremist views. After the club's decision to support Peninsula without first reviewing the content of the magazine, Ackley says he almost quit as well, although he eventually decided to remain to try to "keep the extremism in moderation."

"The club is no longer a legitimate forum for Republican views," says Chae, a fiscal conservative who says he doubts the HRC will be able to draw a large following with such conservative views on social issues. "Any views that don't adhere to their Judeo-Christian ethics are considered morally depraved. They have little difficulty passing judgment on others' moral standards, which is not so wise for a political party."

Anderson's polarizing tactics have not displeased everyone. Campus Democrats believe his extreme stands will bring alienated Republicans into their own party.

"Their group is to the right of the right," says Neil A. Cooper '91, the president of College Democrats of Massachusetts. "It helps us across the state when Republican groups take such extreme positions. When you have a political party, you have to build coalitions and compromise. We're going to attract Jesse Jackson liberals and Lloyd Bentsen conservatives. Anderson's going to alienate people who would otherwise support him."

Anderson responds that since Republicans will never be a majority at Harvard, his efforts have been focused on developing a core group of conservative Republicans and educating the campus, although he recently turned down a challenge to debate from the Harvard/Radcliffe Democrats. He says that he is content to leave coalition-building to the national party.

After all, Anderson says, Acosta's policies of moderation, consensus and silence were not attracting members, either--club meetings rarely attracted more than four or five members in 1989.