The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 25, 1996 - A
LOCAL/STATE
State Democrats eye college vote
By Laurie Mayk
Daily Staff Reporter
DETROIT - At an event designed to raise
money and support for the Democratic Party,
Michigan Democrats and former Texas Gov.
Ann Richards discussed the importance of
catching the eye of college voters in the No-
nber election.
"We are not going to forfeit our young
people to the Republican Party," said Detroit
Mayor Dennis Archer in an interview with The
Michigan Daily.
With almost eight months before November
elections, candidates have only about three
months of classes to tackle college campuses.
"We're organizing efforts on every campus in
Michigan," said U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.),
who is running for re-election this fall. "The
,ublicans have tried to make big cuts in edu-
on - college loans, Pell Grants and student
incentive grants. ... College students will swing
over heavily to the Democratic Party," Levin
said.
Donald Riegle, former Michigan senior
senator, said contact with students is a crucial
tactic for winning college votes.
"Anybody that's going to run has to go to
the campus and talk with students," said Riegle,
a University alum.
Forums in the Michigan Union and around
the University's campus were an important
part of his campaigns for U.S. Senate, he said.
The Democrats know who to target and
students know they are being targeted, said
LSA senior Steve Rogovin, a member of the
University chapter of College Democrats, who
attended the dinner.
"They know for a fact that people 18-25
gave the deciding amount of votes to Clinton
in '92," Rogovin said.
Richards said Democrats nationwide don't
have to cater to voters because the Democratic
and Republican records stand on their own.
"I really don't think it's the job of the party
to put out special ideasjust to get out the vote,"
Richards said in an interview with the Daily.
"(Republicans) are taking away their col-
lege loans and suggesting all poor kids get
laptops," Richards said in her speech to the
2,000 Democrats who attended the fund-
raiser. "Sounds an awful lot like 'let them eat
cake' to me."
Students are unhappy with Republican edu-
cation initiatives, said Michigan Student As-
sembly Rep. Fiona Rose, who attended the
event.
"The Republicans tried to make the biggest
cuts in education in the history of the country,"
Rose said. "College students are really upset
about the Republican efforts to cut education."
RICHARDS
Continued from Page 1A
Democrats. "She's really got the Democratic Party
in Michigan fired up and ready to work."
Richards emphasized grassroots campaigning
as the way to defeat the Republicans in the general
election.
"You have got to build a sense of community
where you live, where what is important for all of
us is important for each of us," Richards said.
"People want to believe there is more to life than
constantly struggling for money. What is the Re-
publican response? 'Not in this lifetime."'
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who intro-
duced Richards, said he agreed with the value of a
grassroots campaign.
"People are tired of the media and the stuff on
television. They would treasure a grassroots move-
ment," Levin said in an interview with The Michi-
gan Daily. "People would appreciate the breath of
fresh air."
Attacking House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-
Ga.) and GOP presidential candidate Pat Buchanan
Richards labelled the Republican Party as extrem-
ist and elitist.
"The heart of the Republican Party campaign...
is an us-against-them war that requires anyone tc
be the enemy who does not conform to the white-
bread notion of what normal America is," she said.
Richards lauded the record of President Clintov
and other Democrats in Washington. She describe(
Clinton's energy and dedication to people, an(
called on the state party to mirror that connectivity.
"It's time for you to make the effort to bring th(
people of Detroit, Lansing and all the other grea
people of this state together before tragedy occurs,"
she said. "I would suggest one of the best ways is te
bring peopletogetherin politics to vote Democratic.'
Debbie Stabenow, a former state senator nog
running against U.S. Rep. Dick Chrysler (R-
Brighton), said education would be a major plank
in her platform.
"Education is the No. I priority for me, at ever
level of government and business if we are goinj
to compete in the world economy," Stabenow saik
in an interview with the Daily.
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