As the third verse of U2’s “Where the Streets Have no Name” blasted through the loud speakers, a motorcade of black SUVs began circling Dickson Court on Friday.
The crowd that had started lining up in front of Haines and Royce Hall around 4 p.m. erupted in cheers as Bill Clinton stepped out of a vehicle.
Clinton came to California to stump for Democrats Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom in their bids for governor and lieutenant governor.
“Colleges and universities are natural venues for events like these,” said Tenoch Flores, communications director of the California Democratic Party. “They’ve got the space, they’re full of supporters, and it is easier to organize around the events.”
According to Flores, the Democratic Party is catering to its youth voter base.
In addition to Clinton’s rally at UCLA, the former president spoke at San Jose University on Sunday.
This Friday, President Barack Obama will speak at USC to garner support for Sen. Barbara Boxer.
“It was a good strategy to bring Bill Clinton,” said third-year sociology student Tatyana Butenko. “People would have left otherwise.”
Although the night may have garnered a fair amount of democratic support, political science Professor Tom Schwartz said such events will not have any real effect on the 2010 midterm.
During midterm elections, there are two patterns that occur, Schwartz said. The first is that voter turnout is far lower than in presidential election years, and the second is that the president’s political party typically loses congressional seats.
It will be difficult for Democrats to maintain the record-breaking turnout they received in the 2008 elections among a demographic that statistically is the least likely to vote, Schwartz said.
California’s 39th District, which includes UCLA, leans strongly liberal with or without student support, Schwartz said. This means the student vote will likely not influence the distribution of Democrats in the House of Representatives.
While Schwartz said he believes the Clinton rally may not effect voting within the district come Nov. 2, Flores said these larger rallies allow volunteers to participate in “get out the vote” campaigns.
The Friday rally, for example, was preceded by a phone bank in Haines A39 in which 300 students and volunteers made more than 30,000 phone calls to registered voters throughout the state.
California Republicans, on the other hand, have been catering to their base with events primarily for veterans, the military and business leaders throughout the state, rather than for college students.
A spokesperson for the California Republican Party could not be reached for comment on short notice.