VCU community reacts to presidential candidates

Virginia’s presidential primary on
Tuesday is now crucial in the races for
both political parties.

After the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday
primaries, Sen. John McCain came
out on top in the Republican race,
while Democratic front-runners Hillary
Clinton and Barack Obama continue
forward in a heated race for their party’s
presidential nomination.

McCain’s lead was further cemented
after former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
Romney suspended his bid for the
Republican nomination Feb. 7. McCain
lost some footing when former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee, who was polling
third among the Republicans before
Romney’s departure, beat McCain in the
Kansas Republican caucus as well as the
Louisiana primary on Feb. 9, showing
that conservative Republicans might
not be ready to bow to McCain.

“I think it is really interesting that
(Huckabee) won a lot of key states on
(Super) Tuesday,” said Lauren Fend,
a development associate in the
School of the Arts who majored
in political science at Pennsylvania
State University. “I wrote Huckabee
off as dead in the water until Iowa.
He is a really good politician and he
packages his message well. I think
that’s what people are responding
to.”

Some Democrats in the VCU
community say they are falling in
line behind Obama and leaving
Clinton in the dust.

“People don’t like her personality,”
said 18-year-old VCU student
Elizabeth Munyan. “She seems very
unfriendly and standoffish.”

Munyan followed up her criticisms
of Clinton with praise for
Obama.

“Obama seems like he relates to
people more due to his charisma,”
Munyan said.

The Clinton campaign has been
reportedly struggling with a disconnect
with young audiences, and
Chelsea Clinton, Hillary Clinton’s
27-year-old daughter, has been seen
at key campaign spots trying to motivate
the younger demographic.

“Obama just seems like a really
cool dude that anyone could know
and speak to,” said 19-year-old
Kristopher Russell.

Natasha Long, an academic advisor
at VCU, thinks the candidates are
being unfairly judged on the basis of
gender, race and personal life rather
than on the real issues.

“A candidate’s personal life does
not matter . as long as they are able
to do their job,” Long said.

A supporter of Bill Clinton’s
administration since 1996, Long
said she is optimistic that Hillary
Clinton’s abilities will capture the
hearts of young people in the long
run.

“(Clinton) is brilliant, articulate
and amazing. She speaks about
change and actually backs it up,”
Long said.

This sentiment is shared by art
history major Melissa Laraja.

“There is a good chance of
Hillary winning her nomination,
because she speaks to women who
feel the same way as she does,”
Laraja said.

No matter what combination
– Hillary vs. McCain vs. Obama
vs. Huckabee – emerges for the
final race for the presidency, the
candidates who receive their parties’
nominations will have to make
the important choice of who to
pick as a running mate for their
campaign.

Some VCU students think the
frontrunners from each party
should team up.
” I r e a l l y
think Clinton and
Obama should run together,”
sophomore Jessica Ferey said.

Sophomore art major Brian
Gartside thinks Republicans should
combine forces, as well.

“If McCain gets the nomination,
then Romney (for vice president),”
Gartside said.

Gartside said it’s important for
McCain to pick a vice president
like Romney who has had the
experience of campaigning as a state
governor.

“I think it should definitely be
somebody with experience as a
governor,” Gartside said.

As for the Democrats, Gartside
said he would like to see Clinton
paired up with somebody who really
knows what they’re doing.

“If Hillary?” Gartside said. “Bill
(Clinton).”

After former Sen. John Edwards
dropped out of the Democratic race,
some speculated he was trying to
secure a role as a candidate for vice
president before endorsing either
of his former opponents.

William Newmann, director of
undergraduate programs at the L.
Douglas Wilder School of Government
and Public Affairs, said
Edwards wouldn’t make much
sense as a vice president, and he
might not be interested.

“It’s a real long shot,” Newmann
said.

Newmann said he thinks a
Democrat picking a southern
candidate like Edwards won’t
do any good in helping the party
take away any southern states
from the Republicans. He said
the only state that might waver
is Louisiana.

“After Hurricane Katrina,
there might be some backlash,”
Newmann said, referring
to criticisms of George
W. Bush administration’s
response to the Gulf Coast
disaster in 2006.