From meetings to midterms, the rush of college life often distracts us from headlines outside our college bubble. One would be hard pressed, however, to escape news of the current Democratic primary and the 2020 presidential election. While some students may long to escape the barrage of seemingly endless information about the race, there are others who jumped into action this cycle, including the members of the various campaign subgroups on campus.
Since the Harvard College Democrats do not endorse a candidate until the official Democratic nominee has been selected for the general election, student campaign work during the primary elections falls to subgroups. Though these groups are endorsed by the Harvard College Democrats and are eligible for certain benefits, including access to email lists, rooms, and limited funding, they work independently to advocate for a specific candidate during the primary process. As the initially expansive field of Democratic candidates has dwindled, so, too, has the number of campaign groups. By the day before Super Tuesday, only three remained: the Harvard College Democrats subgroups for Bernie, Warren, and Biden.
Subgroups are a candidate’s voice on campus, providing an accessible way for students to get involved with advocacy efforts and campaigning to spread their candidate’s message to the student body, Cambridge community, and beyond. From participating in weekly canvassing trips to dorm storming to making countless phone calls, subgroup members are excited to show support for their candidate in every way they can. Though they are in competition with each other for student and public support, these campaign subgroups are united in their collective goal of encouraging and deepening youth civic engagement.
On the Ground
At the core of any campaign subgroup is the hands-on work they do for their candidate. From phone banking to knocking on doors, group members have been working to persuade individual voters, one at a time, to join their cause. Prior to the New Hampshire primary, most groups sent members to the state at least a few times a month to canvas. Before Buttigieg’s recent exit from the race, Harvard College Democrats for Pete Co-Chair Michael Baick ’22, in speaking with the HPR, attributed the former mayor’s strong showing in the state, where Buttigieg garnered 24.4% of the vote, in part to the work of canvassers like college students.
Besides the standard phone banking, door-knocking, and campaign trips, the subgroups have explored more creative, campaign-specific events. First semester, for instance, Harvard College Democrats for Bernie threw a class warfare event that hosted prominent leftist speakers such as Cornel West in an effort to bring more leftist voices to campus. Last October, Harvard College Democrats for Pete hosted a “Boo-tigieg” Halloween event that allowed attendees to go “trick-or-Peteing” for both candy and information about Buttigieg’s policies.
Student members also have the chance to interact with other branches of their candidate’s campaign efforts. Especially in the next few months, Harvard College Democrats for Warren will focus on working closely with the larger Warren campaign by coordinating their events and taking group trips to the Cambridge field office.
Students’ enthusiasm is rooted in strong, genuine beliefs that their candidates are the ones who deserve the presidency. In a field that began with over a dozen candidates, many of whom espoused relatively similar ideologies and policies, just deciding who to support is not always easy. What, then, is it about these candidates that has inspired students not only to vote for them, but to sacrifice their limited time for campaign work?
Finding Their Candidate
For many student organizers, progressive policies and promises of action factored into their decisions to support their candidates of choice. Decision times varied — some students knew where their support fell months ago, while others have found their place more recently as the field narrows and we move closer to the Democratic National Convention.
Unsurprisingly, when asked why they believe students are drawn to their candidates, members of subgroups for Sanders and Warren mentioned the progressive policies and values of the two, with the latter also mentioning Warren’s ever-present mantra of having a “plan for everything.” According to Harvard College Democrats for Bernie Chair James Coleman ’21, who spoke with the HPR, students support Sanders because of his policies on climate change and environmentalism, homelessness, affordable housing, single-payer health care or Medicare for All, and foreign policy. In an echo of their similarities and a reminder that they are often competing for support from the same liberal wing of the party, Harvard College Democrats for Warren Co-Chair Kate Travis ’22 related many of the same reasons when discussing why she believes students love Warren to the HPR. “Her progressive values really appeal to college students,” she said, adding that her propensity to ‘get things done’ makes Warren especially attractive in “a world where we’ve all been raised on politicians making big promises and not delivering.”
This support of progressive policies is reflected in data about the issues young adults care about nationwide. According to the Harvard Public Opinion Project, among Americans aged 18 to 29 who are likely to vote in a Democratic primary, 45% support “big, structural policy changes.” These young voters will be one-third of the eligible voting population in 2020, making them a dominant political force. Young adults who choose not to engage directly with a campaign may make their voices heard through protests, working with their elected representatives, or other forms of advocacy.
Engagement on Campus
Although not every student is involved in a political group, each subgroup I spoke to confirmed that campus engagement in politics is high. Coleman noted that weekly dorm storming to spread the word about Sanders revealed students who are open to discussing the race. Baick pointed to the members of Harvard College Democrats for Pete as evidence that students are engaged. Many who have not been previously involved with political organizations on campus, such as the IOP or the Harvard College Democrats, have joined the campaign and done their very first canvassing work this cycle. Now that the former mayor has suspended his campaign, it is unclear where these students will focus their efforts.
In terms of inter-group relations, Baick reports that they do not parallel the ones we see between the actual candidates in the national news. “When you look at the people on the ground, I think that the connections are there and forming, and that the animosity you see on a debate stage is not nearly as strong,” he said. Amidst the squabbling and insults of the recent debates and the tensions inherent to the last few months of a contentious primary, there is hope of reconciliation. After all, in a few months, these campaign subgroups will unite behind a single candidate — and for the sake of the Democratic Party, hopefully, the rest of the nation’s Democratic voters will, too.
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