Decision '08: Students support unknown for president

With the New Jersey state primary elections just around the corner, Monmouth University students have indicated via survey where they stand in regard to their political interests and what presidential candidates they will vote for.

And the winner is… “I don’t know.”

Out of 110 surveys randomly distributed to students, the bulk of participants, 31 percent, did not know for whom they would cast their ballot, or much of anything for that matter.

Only 51 percent of Monmouth students stated that they were planning on voting in the 2008 presidential election. A whopping 60 percent of students claimed they were not registered to vote.

For those who did have an opinion, Hillary Clinton (D) was the most favored candidate with 20 percent of the votes. Clinton was followed by Barack Obama (D) and Rudy Giuliani (R) with 14.5 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively.

When asked in the survey to specify which issue was most important to them in the upcoming election, Iraq was the overwhelmingly popular response at 60 percent.

The second most popular answer was, of course, “I don’t know” totaling 20 percent.

Steps have been taken at Monmouth to get students involved in politics. The “Stand Up and Be Counted” campaign has been established with the goal of having 100 percent of Monmouth students registered to vote by 2008.

But, is getting students registered really going to help inform students about political issues and get them to the polls? Registering to vote and actually making an informed decision as to who would be the best candidate to run our country are two completely different things.

However, if a campaign was established that motivated students to vote, registration would likely follow.

Instead of registering students to vote who have no interest in voting, perhaps if students were encouraged via some promotion to become interested in politics, they would register themselves and become active in the political arena.

It seems that while the proponents of the “Stand Up and Be Counted” campaign have their hearts in the right place, they are pushing to clear up a problem that is not the actual problem at all.

Students at Monmouth University need a way to become informed and get excited about politics. Simply filling out a registration form is not going to make a difference.

-Jarred Curcio and Megan Brennan