When supporting a national campaign, not everyone has the option to “put their money where their mouth is” ““ especially not University of California students who are likely more preoccupied with paying for the rising costs of tuition.
However news outlets and campaign tours are increasingly shifting their focus to campaign fundraising.
Despite this shift, the student vote remains an important constituency to both candidates, as shown by Obama’s victory in 2008. Although campaign funding may have drawn the media’s eye, the student demographic will remain a key target on this summer’s campaign trail.
Although their impact is still large, to maintain relevance and keep the spotlight trained on their age group in this environment, students must find other, non-financial ways to be actively involved in the campaigning process.
In late June, the Supreme Court refused to take another look at their 2010 Citizens United decision, which allowed for unlimited campaign donations by corporations and unions, and the subsequent formation of Super PACs to do so.
This decision led to a transformation of the way candidates campaign, and perhaps one of the reasons that the majority of presidential campaign donations come from a small minority.
In fact, only about 0.21 percent of the US population donates more than $200 to political candidates, parties or political action committees. These donations amount to 66 percent of all individual political contributions.
As a result, a small percentage of our population has a very, very loud voice.
Obama and Romney present radically opposing higher education policies, which are centerpieces in both campaigns. In regards to student debt, Romney weighs in favor of privatization of student loans, while Obama favors student loans directly from the Department of Education.
Obama also wants to create federal incentives for states to lower their schools’ tuition, and Romney aims to simplify the federal financial aid system. Any of these policy changes would affect students’ access to education as well as university tuition rates.
University students and administrators therefore have a lot banking on this election, and both candidates have a lot banking on us.
By law, the University of California cannot make political contributions or endorsements, said Brooke Converse, a UC spokesperson, although employees may do so as individuals.
But the UC, as a nonprofit body, may conduct objective evaluations of ballot measures and policies.
“We can analyze public policy issues, including higher-education issues that may be at issue in an election, but would avoid activities that cross over into political advocacy,” Converse said.
Because the UC cannot engage in political activities, students should work to be informed about how policies will harm or benefit them. The UC’s evaluations of policies is one useful resource to do so. In an election fueled by special interests and corporate donations, we must be our own advocates.
“There might be students who give some money (to campaigns), but the chunk they contribute is relatively small,” said Jernej Copic, a professor of economics who specializes in political economy. “A much larger contribution of the student body is volunteer work.”
As students, we should continue to inform ourselves and support our preferred candidates in other, louder ways. Super PACs may donate a lot of money, but students have a lot of voices, and a lot of votes.
Just this spring, a group of students brought presidential hopeful Ron Paul to UCLA and filled the Los Angeles Tennis Center with an audience of more than 5,000 people.
But their success did not come without a significant group effort.
The student group, Youth for Ron Paul, had to collect more than 1,400 signatures asking Paul to visit, said Tyler Kotesky, second-year political science and history student and president of the group.
Regardless of one’s political stance, this is no doubt an influential type of advocacy.
The group spent about 10 to 15 hours a week on Bruin Walk, talking to interested passersby about Ron Paul in order to have a significant presence.
But Kotesky put it best: “Nothing moves that isn’t pushed.”
Bruin Democrats and Republicans engage in phone banking and precinct walking, and try to bring speakers to campus, according to Jonathan Bash and Darren Ramalho. Bash is a fourth-year political science student, member and ex-president of the Bruin Democrats. Ramalho is a third-year political science and English student, and chairman of the Bruin Republicans.
“If you sit down and make phone calls, and if 20 people vote as a result, that could make a big difference … as long as everyone puts in a maximum amount of effort to counteract the money,” Bash said.
But students do not necessarily have to join organizations to be politically active. Information itself may be the arena in which students can find the greatest influence and deepest impact.
Students, and more generally, voters, do not have to rely on partisan advertisements funded by campaigns for information about a candidate’s policies.
Access to media outlets and blog forums such as ProPublica and PolitiFact gives us the tools to make educated voting decisions and engage in a large-scale discussion.
Social media allows us to circulate various forms of media ourselves ““ we may now utilize our individual skills, passions and creativity to promote policy to a worldwide audience.
Each campaign has latched on to this idea as well, amplifying its supporters’ voices online.
Obama’s camp has launched their Dashboard social network, in which supporters can coordinate advocacy activities with other supporters in their community. Romney’s website hosts options for different constituencies, such as women, Catholics and veterans to get involved with his campaign in their own communities as well.
In order to lessen the impact of money in federal elections, students should seek new mobilization methods in whatever medium best amplifies and spreads their message.
Email Ferdman at mferdman@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to opinion@media.ucla.edu or tweet us @DBOpinion.