According to Shai M. Sachs '01, a council member from Leverett House who is active in the liberal community at Harvard, it was easy to get excited about Driskell's vision.

"There was an outpouring of energy this year," says Sachs, who is also a Crimson editor.

That outpouring came, in part, in the form of endorsements by traditionally liberal campus groups, such as The Perspective and the Coalition Against Sexual Violence.

Darling, whose only official group endorsement came from the Republican Club, says the significant student group support added momentum to his opponents' campaign.

"I think that definitely helped," Darling says.

In the Past

But in past years, more conservative council candidates have benefited from a backlash against what some saw as a connection between liberal leadership and a divided council that focused more on problems in Burma than those of student shuttle busses to Logan.

According to Republican Club President C.J. Mahoney '00, the club has in past years thrown its support behind conservative candidates not necessarily for their political beliefs but as an attempt to move the council away from the liberal activism prevalent under former president Lamelle D. Rawlins' '99.