“We work closely with the Kerry campaign and try to do whatever we can for them,” Dems President Andrew J. Frank ’05 said. “Unfortunately we didn’t work as much as we wanted to. It’s a lot to shift from a primary campaign in the states to a national campaign.”
Frank cited disorganization on the part of the Kerry campaign as a reason for a post-primary slow start.
“It took awhile for [the Kerry campaign] to get everything set up,” he said. “They didn’t have field offices, they had to hire a lot more staff.”
Nevertheless, the Dems tried to form an active presence on campus during the spring semester. A “Beat Bush” rally, organized by the Dems, the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters Alliance, Harvard Socialist Alternative and other campus groups, was held outside the Science Center in mid-May.
And Frank said that compared to other schools, Harvard Dems were ahead of the game.
“We’ve done a lot for this stage in the campaign,” Frank said. “In most colleges the campus is pretty dead until the fall before the election.”
Frank said he is proud of the Dems’ fundraising efforts, which he said have brought in between $700 and $1,000 for the Kerry campaign.
Every weekend in the fall, the Dems plan to send volunteers to New Hampshire, the nearest swing state. Frank said the group is also planning a campaigning trip outside of New England. On campus, Dems will set up phonebanking hubs in dorms and House junior common rooms.
On the GOP side, Silvestri confirmed last week that the HRC will ask the IOP for funding in the fall.
Josh M. Mendelsohn ’05, former president of the HRC and chair of Harvard Students for Bush, said the HRC will be looking to dispatch student Bush supporters off campus to help support the president.
“Massachusetts is obviously a very dynamic state but unfortunately is very liberal and is very loyally Democratic,” said Mendelsohn, who is also chair of Massachusetts Students for Bush. “As a result, we are focusing our efforts on exporting the time, talent and energy of our volunteers.”
“We’re going to go to New Hampshire where the president had a very narrow [victory] margin there and we want to maintain that,” he said. “We are going to make ourselves available to some of the key swing states across the country, whether that be Ohio, Michigan or Florida.”
Mendelsohn also said the club will participate in an absentee ballot initiative on campus.
He noted that while no plans have been confirmed, there will “definitely be out-of-state trips.”
Stephanie N. Kendall ’05, membership director of the HRC, is already on the ground for her candidate. Kendall is currently in Tallahassee working at the central Florida office of the Bush-Cheney reelect campaign.
“It’s an adventure everyday,” said Kendall, who is also communications director for Massachusetts Students for Bush. Kendall is in charge of handling campus press queries in Massachusetts, and is performing odd jobs around the Tallahassee office.
“Students have a lot of energy and in the summer they have a lot of time and they’re eager,” Kendall said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to gain a lot of experience themselves and also it’s a fantastic position for the campaign to get a lot of people willing and able to work long hours.”
—Staff writer Michael M. Grynbaum can be reached at grynbaum@fas.harvard.edu.