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Bradley reaches out to college voters as caucus nears
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By Leticia A. Gonzalez
The Minnesota Daily
DES MOINES, Iowa (U-WIRE) -
In presidential elections, the tallest can-
didate has always won. If the trend con-
"es, the 6-foot-5-inch Bill Bradley
nds a good chance of defeating the
more vertically challenged candidates
in the November general elections.
But first, Bradley, a former U.S. sen-
ator from New Jersey, needs to get past
Vice President Al Gore to secure the
Democratic Party's nomination.
Monday's Iowa precinct caucuses are
the first step in the nomination process.
Like other candidates, Bradley aims
to reach college-age voters. In a Des
oines Register report last week, 42
cent of 18- to 34-year-olds support
Bradley.
Bradley wants to "bring people into
the political process who haven't been
engaged by politics," said Kristen
Ludecke, a campaign spokesperson.
"Students ... have been fed up with the
political system"
Bradley spoke Tuesday afternoon at
Iowa's Simpson College, where Nate
Boulton is president of the Iowa
College Democrats. Boulton said stu-
dents would have a large impact on who
wins the caucuses.
"In just a few years, we'll be like
everyone else: with a job and in the
work force," Boulton said. "People we
elect will set up the conditions we live
in when we get out of college."
Bradley's education plans include
expanding access to community col-
leges. Since community colleges are
usually students' first college experi-
ences, Bradley wants to ensure students
- especially those who are financially
disadvantaged - have equal access and
affordability to them.
Bradley's lifelong-learning proposal
would provide $2 billion during a five
year period for technology, jobs pro-
grams and making schedules more flex-
ible. Bradley helped pass bills through
the Senate that allowed homeowners to
qualify for Pell Grants.
To capture the student vote, Bradley
focused on his campaign Website rec-
ognizing the strong role the Internet
plays in students' lives, Ludecke said.
The site clarifies his stance on cam-
paign issues such as abortion and edu-
cation. Bradley recently launched
another site about participating in cau-
cuses, providing another tool for stu-
dents to get involved.
William Warren Bradley, born July
28, 1943, in Crystal City, Missouri,
started his professional life as a basket-
ball player for the New York Knicks.
After his undergraduate years at
Princeton University and Rhodes
Scholar years at Oxford University,
Bradley interned in the Washington,
D.C., congressional office of Richard
Schweiker (R-Penn.) as well as on the
presidential campaign of former
Pennsylvania Gov. William Scranton.
Bradley later served in the U.S. Senate
from 1978 to 1996.
Bradley has been profiled on
MTV's "Choose or Lose" program,
and he plans to hold a youth debate
in October if he is the party's nomi-
nee. Bradley has also spoken to stu-
dents in Iowa and New Hampshire,
where the country's first primaries.
were held January 1.
AP PHOTO
Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Bradley responds yesterday to a question
during a campaign stop at the Salemhaven Senior Home in Salem, N.H.
Volunteers key
to McCain's
N.H. campaign
By Daniel D. Springer
The Harvard Crimson
GILFORD, N.H. (U-WIRE) - If Arizona Sen. John
McCain wins the New Hampshire Republican primary
Feb. 1, he may well have his campaign volunteers to
thank.
£The key to victory in New Hampshire, aside from televi-
son ads, is the degree to which candidates meet voters in per-
son. Polls of New Hampshire residents show McCain and
Bush neck-and-neck.
A McCain win in the state could give him a boost -
though the candidates have more than a month between New
Hampshire and the next series of primaries.
There are about 747,000 registered voters in the state, and
they cast their ballots at a rate higher than the national aver-
age.
Given New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status, candi-
*es spend weeks there. If they try, they probably could meet
a majority of the electorate.
McCain has spent 56 days in the state and will likely add
another seven to the total before the primary.
For McCain's campaign organizers, ensuring that voters
know where their candidate will be appearing - and con-
vincing them to attend - is perhaps their most important
task.
They rely on volunteers, many of them from colleges in
Massachusetts, to spread the McCain gospel.
Early this past Saturday, four students piled into two cars
Massachusetts Ave. gate leading to Harvard Law School,
began their two-hour trek to Gilford, a small town in the
middle of New Hampshire, where they were assigned to rally
the voters for McCain's campaign.
On the stump
Education, health care
top Gore's Iowa agenda
By Erin Ghere
The Minnesota Daily
INDIANOLA, Iowa (U-WIRE) - Vice
President Ai Gore touted his health care and edu-
cation plans Tuesday morning as the best in the
presidential campaign during an appearance at
Simpson College, a private university 12 miles
south of Des Moines, Iowa.
As '80s music played in the background, Gore
was welcomed to the school in Indianola with
cheers from about 250 supporters, including
school children and retirees.
Gore made his appearance with only six days
left before Monday's Iowa caucuses. In a recent
Des Moines Register poll, Gore led former New
Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley in Iowa, 54 percent to 33
percent. Both are stumping throughout the state
this week in anticipation of caucus day.
Speaking in an old basketball arena, Gore empha-
sized his pride in the Clinton administration's
achievements, a striking change from recent speech-
es where he has distanced himself from Clinton.
"I'm proud to be part of an administration that
has made so much progress" in economic and racial
issues, Gore said.
He emphasized the need to use the Clinton
administration's achievements as a stepping stone
for future progress in education, health care, the
environment and crime.
Speaking directly to Iowa farmers, Gore also
said changes are needed to bring everyone into the
economic prosperity the rest of the country is
experiencing.
Gore told stories of his parents and how his pri-
orities, specifically the importance of both civil
and women's rights, stem from his upbringing:
Gore's father was a senator from Tennessee for
most of Gore's youth, and his mother was a lawyer
- among the first women to graduate from
Vanderbilt Law School, he said.
"The progress we've made for women's rights in
the 20th Century is only the start of the progress
we're going to make in the 21st Century," he said.
Gore spoke without notes as he described his
family and the powerful impact they had on his
life. His daughter, Kristin, accompanied him on
stage and sat behind him with a group of 80
Simpson College Democrats clad with striking
blue "Gore 2000" stickers and signs.
Gore spoke to the college-age students, a group
of voters often disillusioned about the political
process, telling them what he could do for them if
elected. But Gore also reached out to his older
audience by talking about his oldest daughter,
Karenna, and his newborn grandson.
Gore has announced plans to help both groups,
including prescription drug benefits for seniors
and a NationalTuition Savings Program, which
would allow parents to save for their children's
education starting at birth, as well as increase the
amount of Pell Grants for students.
Tiffany Berkenes, a Simpson College sopho-
more, said Gore's plan to make higher education
more accessible is one of the most impressive
parts of his platform.
She said his National Savings Account plan
would have helped her out and she hopes, if
implemented, it would help other students who
otherwise would not have access to higher edu-
cation.
AP PHOTO
Republican presidential hopeful George W. Bush speaks yesterday during a
townhall meeting at Timberland High School in Plaistow, N.H.
more in environments where assumptions are e
different points of view, with people who have Ii
is backed up by recent national research based at Michigan,
Stanford and Harvard. The most complete, enlightening education
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