Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Republicans kick up last minute campaigning ■ Campus group turns out in force at USC vs. Tennessee football game to rally support By TAYLOR SMITH STAFF WRITER . Volunteers flooded Williams-Bryce stadium Saturday to do some last minute campaigning before the election tomorrow. Jay Ragly, political director of the S.C. Republican Party, was standing with five other volunteers on Assembly Street before the intersection of Rosewood Drive, holding up signs fcf7/ motorists and stickers for pedestrians. “Right now, this is just cheap advertising for Bush/DeMint, and the audience is any voter that happened to be driving by,” Ragly said. “This is just to make sure the Republican Party turns out the votes in the last 72 hours.” Ragly said that the 72-hour push has been a component of the Republican campaign for some time and he expected there to be about 7,000 total volunteers for the Republican Party. Tennessee fans, Ragly added, seemed to be in overwhelming support of President Bush, but a lot of USC students also approached him asking for the “W” stickers. “I think among the 80,000, Tennessee fans will say, ‘Hey, who is this DeMint guy,’” Ragly said. “But overall I think people have pretty much already made up their minds.” In addition to statewide party volunteers there were also collegiate volunteers in the form of the College Republicans. College Republicans co-chairman Randy Dargan said the group headquarters was at the Joe Wilson tent inside the stadium grounds, but a number of other volunteers walked around the fairgrounds. “We probably had the entire chapter out there with 20 people passing out stickers,” Dargan said. Dargan said he realizes that the group probably didn’t sway many people from one party to another, but hopes that it helped people get motivated about voting. “It is important to get out and vote, and we are there to make sure that the Republican Party is alive and well in S.C.,” Dargan said. “Tennessee fens already had their W stickers in orange, but they definitely wanted the Bush/Cheney stickers we were passing out.” In preparation for the Saturday crowds, Dargan said that College Republican volunteers put up about 600 signs around the proximity of the stadium. “We have been extremely impressed with the amount of volunteers, we have probably had about four or five times the amount of people we expected,” Dargan said. “When we reelect Sanford two years from now, we will see them again.” Ragly and Dargan said that they did not see any Democratic campaigns near the stadium and the Young Democrats were unavailable for comment. “In the past, Republicans have not made many last-minute pushes, but we are doing that right now,” Ragly said. “All the hard work we have done will be worth the end — result and I think both Bush and DeMint will do good in South Carolina. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockneu's@gwm.sc. edu ■ TIE Continued from page 1 presidents elected by the Senate, Graham said. “The House is the closest to the people, so they would assemble to elect the president,” Graham said. “It would go to the U.S. House by state, and then those members (from each state) would have to agree to vote for a candidate.” Graham added that on one occasion, the House elected a president of a different party than that of the Senate ‘s appointed vice president. “If you would have a split, and in a contemporary environment where the country is so partisan, I think that politically it would be a gridlock,” Graham said. The problem, Graham said, is that in the American political culture,- there is an idea of a winner and a loser and the winner is looked at as being verified for the office and the loser is not. Third-year political science student Chasity Grooms said a congressionally elected president would “be very difficult.” “We are so based on our voice being heard it would be difficult to see Congress put a president in the White House,” Grooms said. , Regardless of the possibility of a state withdrawing its electoral votes, which it is constitutionally allowed to, or the amount of Electoral College votes being equal, Graham said he thinks the possibility of a tie is almost as remote as a candidate-elect dying before an inauguration. “That would be the rarest of the rare, almost fictional,” Graham said. “But these circumstances are provided for in the constitution.” If the president-elect dies, then the office would be occupied by the vice president elect, but if both candidates die, then Grahams says the process gets interesting. “If both candidates die, then the process would go to a majority, or even •decide if a new election is necessary,” Graham said. Second-year political science student Bob Jackman said he has faith in the guidelines provided in the Constitution, but said he thinks the possibility of having a different party president and vice president would not be likely. “I guess conventional wisdom tells you there is going to be / a close election, but we won’t really know until Wednesday,” Jackman said. “We will see how it unfolds.” ; THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Nikki Brock, 10, trick-or-treats unaccompanied by adults. She stopped by a Kerry Edwards campaign center and picked up signs to carry while canvassing the neighborhood for Halloween treats. Comments on this story? E-mail > gamecockntrws@gwm.sc. edu ■ SENATE Continued from page 1 “She also hasn’t made snide |s comments about people and their ik sexual orientation and how they do y their job, as DeMint has, which is none of his business.” Fourth-year biology student I Pass said she’s ready for on to be over. estly, I am tired of um and DeMint saying igs about each other in imercial. I can’t wait until Day so I don’t have to 1 anymore,” Pass said, ink Tenenbaum is the ididate because she will be ;sentative of the liberals ve in this state,” she said, ’s comment about unwed and homosexuals was not lie Lambert, a first-year undeclared student, feels more strongly about DeMint’s comments. “Jim DeMint is a homophobic twit,” she said. Erika Steele, a first-year graduate student in the HRTM program, said she’s going to vote for Inez. “There is some conflict about DeMint not being in to vote something like 46 percent of the time that he was in office. He was out and did not vote.” Some students plan to vote for Tenenbaum because they support her beliefs. Katie Day, president of USC’s Young Democrats, said that she agrees with Tenenbaum’s stand tax and security issues. Day hopes she wins because she is the best person for the job and will bring strength to the state. College Republicans co-chairman Franklin Buchanan said DeMint was the right choice for South Carolina. “If Mrs. Tenenbaum is elected, she will be a puppet for Ted Kennedy and John Kerry and block the Bush administration,” Buchanan said. “We need a senator that will work with the president, which Jim DeMint has proven that he can do. We don’t need a senator who will become a road block like Inez Tenenbaum.” Others, like third-year education student Kelly Gambrell, don’t like either of the candidates. “I don’t like DeMint’s comments about unwed mothers being unfit to teach in public schools, but I also don’t like Tenenbaum because she hasn’t really done much to improve public education like she claims. Neither candidate appeals to me,” Gambrell said. Other students are concerned with what will really be going on at the polls. Ashanti Huey, a third year public relations student, said she wasn’t sure how many college students would turn out for the election. • Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu ■ ADS Continued from page 1 federal race, but the Tenenbaum campaign outspent the DeMint campaign, including his debt, over the same period by $327,717.13. The Tenenbaum campaign used four different media firms. “Advertising is a central part of any campaign for public office,” Packet! said. “We obviously think it does make difference or we would be spending less money.” Embler admitted the DeMint campaign’s spending deficit was a problem. “It’s been very difficult, actually. We’ve been outspent for the past few months because the DSCC, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, has spent four and a half million dollars for her in the past few months,” Embler said. “In the past few months at least we’ve been outspent 2 to-1 and it’s been a real challenge for us.” Not only are the campaigns hitting the airwaves, but political action committees, 527s and party senatorial committees are slinging mud as well. According to an article in The State on Oct. 14, the Democratic Senatorial ■ ISSUES Continued from page 1 students trusted Kerry to deal with job loss and economic instability. Religion does not hold as much weight with USC students as it may with the rest of the country. Nine out of the 10 students said their religion would not affect their votes Tuesday. “I don t think religion should have anything to do with the way you vote,” Kanwisher said. “I think that’s ridiculous.” The Bush campaign has attempted to label Kerry a “flip-flopper.” That tactic seems to have worked at USC, as all 10 of the students sampled said they thought Kerry had “flip-flopped” on some important issues. When asked if Kerry “flip-flopped” on certain issues, second-year exercise science student Paul Edwards responded, “Of course. Most Definitely. I haven’t heard him say the same thing twice.” While all of these issues are important to students, no one issue seems to be enough to completely determine their votes. Nine out of the 10 students said they would base their votes on a number of issues. While the majority of students said they felt Kerry held an advantage in both the war on terror and the economy, they were split in their choice for the next president. Five students said that they plan to, or already have voted for Bush, and five said the same for Kerry. However, when asked who they thought would win the election, six students said Bush would win, two students said Kerry would win, and two said they weren’t sure. “Most people I know aren’t really huge supporters of either candidate, they ar» just voting for the lesser evil,” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockneu's@gwm.sc.edu Campaign Committee spent $3 million on ads criticizing DeMint up to that point. Not to be outdone, the National Republican Senatorial Committee pledged to spend $1 million on ads against Tenenbaum in the final two weeks of the campaign. Recently, groups like the American Medical Association, Club for Growth Strong Senate ran ads against DeMint. Though PACs and 527s are normally seen as out-of-state influences on thei election, one of the major contributors to Club for Growth is S.C. native and USC alumnus Robert McNair. Comments on this story ? E-mail gamecocknetvs@givm.se. edu Cancun, Acapulco, Jamaica & morel rilRAVELCUIS 1-800-592-CUTS (2887) _Seethed your way Call or book online! -—- THE TRUTH IS--] VOU DON'T COU YOUR MOM ENOUGH _ 1 UlV**V»V Sft~ X' ^ X %. tlH**r *°»»y. WK£ WK Off «TH VS worn* REMS. STS STTDC IT R0NL CSU M LMBJf. MONTS Am m Mm SKK UK TUTU. IM SMS K SORT IK SMMOTS ft 0080. IT MOST « WELL K St w~ LET THE TRUTH BE KNOWN. CONGRATULATIONS! To Our CREED WEEK ESSAY CONTEST WINNER Shea McKenna Thanks to all who participated for making Creed Week a success. ... | Sponsored by Carolina Student Judicial C3rOlini3n_ Council, Office of Student Judicial SIGN IT. MEAN IT. LIVE IT. Programs & University Housing. 75C Natural Light * $1.50 Bud Light * $2.00 Corona Every Night of the Week! 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