Last night, the College Republicans officially kicked off their Students for Bush campaign with a celebratory viewing of the State of the Union address in the basement of Hamilton College House.
Hanging an American flag behind the TV and wearing a cowboy hat, Wharton junior David Copley -- who is also the state chairman of Students for Bush -- prefaced the speech with introductory remarks in an attempt to energize the highly partisan crowd.
He emphasized the importance of Pennsylvania as a potential swing state in the general election, citing that President Bush has visited Pennsylvania 23 times, more than any other state with the exception of Texas. "Democrats will not win [the presidency] if we win Pennsylvania," he said.
The crowd responded and was lively throughout the hour-long address. Although being attentive to the speech, the crowd maintained a lighthearted, joking atmosphere.
On the issues of homeland security, Medicare, the capture of Saddam Hussein and sanctity of marriage, the crowd erupted in applause. While in response to images of Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy, the group of Republicans booed and laughed.
Chairman of the College Republicans and College junior Dan Gomez approved of the address.
President Bush "hit everything exactly right. He touched on all major issues facing America. He promised to take on pro-active measures to start solving those problems," said Gomez, a former Daily Pennsylvanian columnist.
Nearly 75 students attended the meeting.
"The turnout was great. It shows the support for the president on this campus," said Gomez, who is also president of Students for Bush.
"The turnout far exceeded our expectations," Copley added.
Copley also discussed the promising chances that the Bush campaign has on the Penn campus.
"I think that President Bush is exceedingly popular with the college students ... he has a positive agenda. And I do believe that President Bush will win this campus in '04," he added.
Most College Republicans agree, and some, like College freshman Colleen Fitzgerald, plan to get involved with the campaign.
"I'll get involved because there are a lot of conservative students who don't vote on the campus," she said.
