But Frank X. Leonard '01, the other conservative presidential candidate, is taking the opposite tactic. Both he and his vice presidential candidate Katie Tenney '01 have been on the council for only one semester, and neither has sponsored a piece of council legislation. Leonard says he thinks his recent arrival on the council will play well to undergraduates.
"I bring an outside perspective to the UC," he says. "I'm a first time member, so I still remember the gripes of students about UC."
Hugh P. Liebert '01, publisher of The Salient and a Crimson columnist, says he is one of several conservatives who have jumped ship from Darling to Leonard.
"Sterling is so much the heir apparent, that to a lot of conservatives, Frank is fresh," says Liebert. "Sterling doesn't have the same pull that Frank does."