As the nation prepares to go to the polls tomorrow, both College Republicans and College Democrats have been busy preparing for election night on campus.
In an interview with The Observer, Olivia Anderson, co-president of Notre Dame College Democrats explained her club has had three focuses in increasing political engagement among Democrats on campus this election season: education, excitement and empowerment.
This program has included hosting watch parties for the presidential and vice-presidential debates, trying to educate club members on key issues, inviting guest speakers such as former women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw and trying to get students to register to vote. Olivia Anderson emphasized this last effort has been particularly successful.
“Notre Dame actually has really good rates of voter registration. A lot of people on campus are registered. This is through efforts with College Democrats, but also ND Votes, student government; everybody and their mother is getting out on campus, registering people to vote,” she said.
Olivia Anderson said College Democrats has also focused on encouraging students to send in their mail-in ballots.
Elliot Anderson, co-president of College Republicans, said his club has focused on public events to increase political engagement on campus.
“We've definitely had a bunch of speakers come to talk to us, a couple people linked in with the previous Trump administration,” he said.
These speakers have included Jon Feere, former senior adviser to the director of ICE, and James Bacon, a former assistant to Trump’s director of operations, John McEntee.
Elliot Anderson said one of the key issues he has noticed as being important on campus this election season is the issue of abortion.
“I would say that the Right to Life crowd specifically has a large interest in abortion, and I think the opposite is true of reproductive rights,” he said.
Elliot Anderson additionally noted the economy would also be a key issue for many voters, especially those in the Mendoza College of Business.
Olivia Anderson pointed to both the economy and “democracy” as some of the most important issues for College Democrats members.
Despite polls, including The Observer’s election poll, showing those who prioritize the economy as their most important issue favoring Trump, Olivia Anderson argued in favor of Harris’ policies on the subject.
“There is this lack of information generally across the country about Vice President Harris's policy surrounding the economy,” she said. “It's a messaging thing … and I think the Harris campaign has made some gains in that over the course of their extremely short campaign, and I think that they would close that gap a bit more if they had a bit more time.”
Both College Democrats and College Republicans will be hosting watch parties on election night. College Democrats will host a formal dinner in the atrium of the Jordan Hall of Science at 6 p.m. College Republicans will host the first part of their watch party in Debartolo Hall from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., before moving to the second floor of Duncan Student Center from 10 p.m. until midnight.
Olivia Anderson expressed a sense of optimism at Harris’ chances on the eve of the election.
“We're feeling pretty good. We are riding this wave of momentum that is happening all across the country for Democrats and the Democratic Party, not just the top of the ticket,” she said. “We were feeling that we will be not particularly surprised if/when Kamala Harris is our presidential elect sometime by the end of this week.”
Elliot Anderson, on the other hand, emphasized the club’s confidence that Trump will win the election.
“We're confident that Trump is going to win, and I think especially he'll carry Indiana and some of the swing states around it,” he said. “I think it'll be a happy event for the silent majority on campus, and I think most people will be pleased that Trump is victorious.”
