Gov. Jim Doyle encouraged student participation in the upcoming presidential election Thursday at the UW-Madison Students for Barack Obama organizational spring semester kickoff.
More than 200 people attended to listen to Doyle, who expressed strong belief in the Obama campaign and stressed the importance of student involvement in the weeks leading up to “Super Tuesday” on Feb. 5.
“It is so important that you get yourselves organized now—that you know exactly what you have to do, because when [the primary] starts happening, it’s going to happen so fast,” Doyle said. “You have to be ready to go.”
Doyle said Obama is an exceptional candidate because he has the ability to overcome the obstacles America has faced the past four decades.
“I don’t know if this country has ever had a leader, at least in my time, that was so capable of bringing people together, getting past the old fights that have been going on for 40 years … and moves on to the future,” he said.
Doyle officially announced his endorsement of Obama Jan. 5.
“He called me the day after the Iowa Caucus and said, ‘Are you ready to go?’ I said, ‘I saw your speech, and I am on board,’” Doyle said.
Student members involved in the campaign expressed excitement about their experiences at the Iowa Caucus earlier this month and announced upcoming canvassing trips in the next few weeks.
“I am from Illinois and volunteered for [Obama] when he was running for Senate, and I have been a supporter ever since,” said Ami ElShareif, chair of UW-Madison’s Students for Obama.
She said the most important thing for students to do is to get involved with the organization and knock on doors and get as much visibility on campus as possible.
“Students need to take campus by storm,” she said.
Leaving the meeting, students discussed the importance of the youth vote in the upcoming election.
“It is exciting to see that Barack Obama is paying attention to the student population in the nation,” said Cydni Chapman, member of Associated Students of Madison’s Legislative Affairs committee. “I think we can really make a difference.”
