Students gathered on Saturday in a Westwood apartment to hear Chelsea Clinton, in the first of her visits to multiple students groups at UCLA, speak about her mother’s presidential platform in an informal setting.
Demonstrating the trend toward increased involvement of young voters in the upcoming presidential election, Chelsea Clinton, daughter of candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton and former president Bill Clinton, made her second visit to a college, following a similar event at UC San Diego.
Chelsea Clinton said these visits were part of an effort by the campaign to reach out to young voters. Her visit on Saturday follows a trip made by Sen. Clinton through the Los Angeles area in which she spoke to workers in a union hall, according to the Los Angeles Times.
A variety of students attended the event, including members of Bruin Democrats, members of Bruins for Hillary and undecided voters.
“I’m an independent, undecided voter, and I wanted to get a clear view of the field. I want to take advantage of the opportunity of (Chelsea Clinton) being on campus,” said Jose Iniguez, a fourth-year sociology student.
Those who already supported Sen. Clinton attended mainly to see what Chelsea Clinton could add to her mother’s campaign.
“I’m really excited to see Chelsea ““ I’m a big Hillary supporter,” said Natalie Gonzalez, a third-year anthropology student. “It’s really different when you’re up close engaging in conversation; the message is much more heartfelt.”
Clinton, keeping the event informal, sat cross-legged on a chair and spoke in a conversational tone as she fielded questions from students.
Students asked a multitude of questions ranging from how she deals with negative press about her parents to where Sen. Clinton stands on certain policy points.
Undecided students at the event were in particular concerned with Sen. Clinton’s views regarding health care and immigration. Chelsea Clinton said that while her mother and Sen. John Edwards have similar plans for universal health care, Sen. Barack Obama has a plan that only mandates health care for children, and not for adults.
Clinton added that her mother is the only candidate with a plan in which every option covers mental health.
In regard to immigration, Clinton said her mother supports comprehensive immigration reform ““ which includes increased border security, and in particular doubling current port security.
Clinton added that in dealing with illegal immigrants already in the country, the senator has a plan which involves fining them for the resources they used and then placing them on a path toward naturalization.
“We have 12 to 14 million illegal immigrants. It’s easy to say “˜round them up,’ but think about what that would take. It would cost tens of billions of dollars. … I don’t know if that should be our fiscal responsibility, much less our moral responsibility,” Chelsea Clinton said.
Clinton was also asked about where her mother stands on issues concerning women in particular, including abortion.
“I’m really proud that my mom has a perfect record on protecting a woman’s right to choose,” Clinton said.
Students were also concerned about what Sen. Clinton would do to mitigate rising college costs, and in particular, a possible increase in fees for higher education in California.
Chelsea Clinton, in response, said that her mother wants to revert to a direct federal lending system, to expand AmeriCorps, to reward students who do public service by offering them more aid and to simplify the financial aid process.
With Sen. Clinton’s education plan, Chelsea Clinton said, students would check a box on a tax form if they desired aid and would be told later if they qualified.
The final question asked at the event was posed by an undecided voter: “Why should I vote for your mom?” Clinton was prompted to speak more personally about why she believes in her mother.
Clinton said that she believes the nation needs a leader with experience and that she believes her mother has strong plans to improve the economy and end the war in Iraq.
“On any specific issue that matters to me, I have confidence not only in her vision, but in her ability to get it done,” Clinton said.
According to many students in attendance, Clinton’s visit did not necessarily have a large impact in affecting their choice of presidential candidate but did generally make them look more favorably on Hillary Clinton.
“It made me like Senator Clinton more, but I’m not going to jump to support her right away because I want other candidates’ opinions on things, too,” said Iniguez.
Despite not necessarily attracting more voters for Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton did draw a positive response from many students, who approved of the way Clinton interacted with them and of the general tone of the event.
“(The event) was kind of personal and made me connect with what Hillary stood for,” said Dwayne Seah, a second-year philosophy student.
Later that day, Chelsea Clinton visited sorority houses, including Alpha Epsilon Phi, in which she took questions in a similar format. Many of the questions posed concerned how Clinton would react to being the first woman president, according to Lecia Rothman, a second-year English student, a vice president in Alpha Epsilon Phi.