Maine College Republicans Visit the District
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 – Maine College Republicans have come to Washington in force this weekend to take part in the Conservative Political Action Conference. The 104 Maine students represent the largest delegation at the conference.
“It’s really a great opportunity for our members to get to know each other and also other College Republicans from throughout the country,” said Nate Walton, the chairman of the Maine College Republicans for the past seven months.
Walton said Maine brought such a large delegation to the Capital partly because the organization is strong but also because 2006 is a crucial election year back home, with Democratic Gov. John Baldacci in a tenuous position and Democrats controlling the state House of Representatives by only a single vote..
The delegation includes students from all over the state, from Bowdoin to Husson to the University of Maine at Presque Isle. All 104 students got a quick meet-and-greet and a photo on the Capitol steps with Maine’s two Republican senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Collins echoed Walton’s desires for a party switch in both branches of state government.
The American Conservative Union hosts this annual gathering, the largest of conservative activists in the country. The Maine students will get to sit through speeches by Vice President Dick Cheney, United Nations Ambassador John Bolton and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
It is a cliché that college students are predominantly liberal, and in most colleges liberal thinking dominates the student body and the faculty. Walton said that such liberal dominance has served only to make his organization stronger.
“I think that one of the reasons that our organization is so strong is that we are constantly being challenged on views and being questioned about them,” he said. “It really makes our members know what they believe in very strongly, and we’re here to fight for those values.”
Shanna Moody, a 20-year-old physical therapy student from Husson College, said she had some problems last semester with her ethics teacher, whose teachings leaned to the left a little too much for Moody’s liking.
“She would just make comments like she contrasted Republicans and vegetarians,” Moody said. “I was like, eh, what does that mean?”
Husson’s administration is fairly GOP friendly, according to Jared Grover, the vice president of the Husson College Republicans. Grover said the college’s president, William H. Beardsley, is very supportive.
“Our president is a strong conservative, a nice guy, really encouraging, and he really backs us,” said the 27-year-old LaGrange native. “Every time I talk to him he asks how things how are going and what we’re going to be doing.”
According to members of its College Republicans organization, the University of Maine at Presque Isle is less supportive of conservatives on campus. Though the chapter received financial aid from the student senate for the trip to Washington, the more liberal students often pose a challenge.
“Our signs are taken down and Democrats obviously hate us, but you know that’s natural,” said Tyler Clark, a 20-year-old Easton native who is majoring in business management.
Clark joked that despite some problems with campus Democrats there had not been any “death threats or anything.”
“Not yet,” interjected Brandon Marquis, the vice chairman of the Presque Isle College Republicans and Clark’s hometown friend.
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