Members of the Baker University community may go to Harter Union Tuesday for the free food, but they will leave with a greater understanding of the numerous elections.
Associate Professor of Political Science Bruce Anderson will hold an “election watch” with two of his courses providing political information and facilitating the acquisition of race information.
The event, which will begin at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria, will feature students from the Introduction to American Politics and Campaigns and Elections classes. Anderson said pizza and soda will be provided around 7:30 p.m.
Members of the Baker and Baldwin City community will be able to come and gather news from about five televisions and five computers that will be set up throughout the cafeteria, Anderson said.
“As soon as races are called by at least two of the networks, the students will give a five-minute presentation on the race,” he said.
Anderson said his students have been following gubernatorial and congressional races since September. The class members have been following the debates, contacting one journalist from the district and staying in touch with one campaign worker, he said.
“If someone wants to know about races in their own states, chances are there will be someone there who knows about it,” Anderson said.
Each student will also predict the election he has been studying.
“Every time we’ve had an election watch, we’ve beaten CNN’s predictions by at least three or four races,” Anderson said. “In this election, I’m not sure because there are so many closely contested races.”
Sophomore Tricia Wernette is in the Campaigns and Elections course. She has been following the race in District 8 in Arizona, where her hometown of Sierra Vista is located.
Days before the election, Wernette said she still wasn’t sure how to predict the race.
“With my district, I don’t know,” she said. “I was pretty sure the Democrat was going to win, but now, the Republican keeps going up in the polls.”
Though she’s unsure, Wernette said it’s been a learning experience seeing the ups and downs of the campaign.
“It’s been pretty interesting because some of them will be really competitive in the beginning and then kind of die down,” she said. “Others will start out and then suddenly get really competitive with lots of negative campaigns, which are always fun to watch.”
Wernette said the goal of the event is to create a greater student interest in the elections.
“We’re kind of hoping to get other students involved in knowing what’s going on with the elections and being interested in politics and what’s going on in the country,” she said. “For the most part, in Congressional elections, I think most people don’t get that involved. I think a lot of people think that if it’s not in Kansas, it won’t affect you.”
Anderson said this election is by no means insignificant. He said this is the most important mid-term election since 1994.
“You could see a switch in one or more of the houses that haven’t changed in 12 years,” he said.
As an added bonus, junior Marck Kabbany, who is also in the Campaigns and Elections class, said he is putting together a slideshow of negative political advertisements from around the country.
“We’re doing a slide show, and we’re going to show the funniest, most outrageous ad campaigns,” he said. “It’s going to give people a really good idea of how competitive these races are and the extent these politicians go to to get their image out there.”
Kabbany said though information is presented, it perhaps shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
“It’s a really good way to know your candidates,” he said. “On the other hand, it is biased. We’re just trying to get it out there for people to see. Plus, it will be entertaining among all that boring campaign stuff.”
Wernette said negative campaigns often prove more successful than others.
“Campaigning always is negative in some aspects. People use it because it’s so effective. People in the community don’t care that much, but it catches their eyes,” she said. “They’ll remember the bad things, and it affects how people vote.”
Regardless of the motivation, Anderson said it will be informative and entertaining.
“Free pizza and nasty, negative ads – what else could you ask for?,” he said.