The Bates Democrats worked with several Democratic candidates for local office as well as the governor in this election. We were able to facilitate events at Bates in order to aid their campaigns. In the early fall, we hosted the Maine College Democrats convention, where the keynote speaker was Governor Baldacci. We also tabled outside of Commons with local Democrats up for reelection such as Dick Wagner and Margaret Craven.
In this election, there was a focus on Iraq as a campaign issue due to the rapid deterioration of the country into what many are calling civil war. In keeping with this subject, we showed the documentary Iraq for Sale and hosted a talk by Iraqi veteran and native Mainer Adam Cote.
All of us put many hours into securing Democratic victories on Election Day. In early November, many people went to do phone banking. On November 6th, the Democrats ensured that everyone on campus knew voting was the following day by passing out information. On Election Day, people went door to door ensuring residents were planning to vote. There were also Democrats at the polls checking off the names of those who had already voted to avoid inconveniencing these people by arriving on their doorstep. We had a table outside of Commons all day with voting information. We placed arrows on the ground leading to the Armory, where all Bates students were voting. Despite cold, wind, and some rain, there were people at that table from when the polls opened to when they closed. That evening, we invited the campus to watch election results on CNN in the Mays Center, where we were rewarded for our hard work by a Democratic victory in the House and Senate, as well as the reelection of Governor Baldacci and the downfall of TABOR.
Following Election Day we were contacted by Opportunity Maine to aid them in a signature gathering campaign. Opportunity Maine is a group which is dedicated to increasing and securing economic prosperity and job growth in Maine. They are currently trying to pass legislation through a citizen’s initiative. This legislation would extend benefits to graduates of Maine colleges who work in Maine after graduating and have student loans. The program would give tax credits to graduates who got jobs in Maine to help pay off their student loans. This would keep more college graduates in Maine, which would aid the economy. For a citizen’s initiative, many signatures are required. We were asked to help gather signatures for the Lewiston area from staff and students. Danny Gimbel was in charge of doing this. He worked tirelessly, tabling for hours in Chase Hall to gather signatures within the time we were given (about two weeks). As a result, we were able to give Opportunity Maine scores of signatures.
