Democracy in Action: Poli Sci Students Develop Mock Presidential Campaigns
Democracy has been center stage in Masters Hall Room 204 with two prospective candidates vying for one role: commander in chief.
After spending part of the semester learning about political fundraising, caucuses, primaries, conventions, Electoral College strategies, and other elements of the election process, students in Colleen Roche’s Political Science class split into two teams that were tasked with designing ideal Democratic and Republican candidates.
“They have to utilize the facts they have learned about the process of ‘the path to the presidency’ in creating their own presidential candidate and campaign,” Roche said.
The teams also had to formulate candidates and campaigns capable of winning in the current political climate, with a few modifications. “They should assume Biden and Trump have both retired and the field is wide open,” Roche noted. “But the issues of today are all front and center.”
The Democratic team rallied behind Frank Bailey, imagined governor of Michigan, with Ed Peters, a decorated war veteran, as his running mate. The Republicans’ fictional ticket had Pennsylvania Governor Charlotte Davis at the top of the ticket with Senator Gavin Daniels of Florida as her vice presidential pick.
Just like real-life campaigns, the students had to build compelling platforms, fundraise, and respond to breaking news stories and PR crises.
Tyler Lovejoy ’24, the Democratic press spokesperson, said that responding to press releases about his candidate was difficult, noting that Ms. Roche lobbed “some very strong accusations” about Bailey.
“It’s a challenge to balance staying very strong on my candidate's beliefs and policy while keeping the voters on our side,” Lovejoy explained.
Jeren Staber ’24, another member of Bailey’s campaign, found crafting policy to be both rewarding and eye-opening: “It has given me some insight into what goes into creating the policy that ends up dictating how our country is run. I never assumed that it is easy, but it is much harder than I would have imagined.”
Staber also learned the hard way about fundraising and the many regulations that dictate it: “We got fined to the tune of $5 million.”
On the Republican side, Clara Nalle ’24 acted as advertising manager. She enjoyed creating their candidate, explaining that doing so “forced the team to look at the American political system and beliefs to design someone with the highest chance of winning.”
Nalle, too, found fundraising to be a challenge. “There are so many rules and guidelines we had to adhere to,” she said. “It wasn’t easy to raise so much hypothetical money.”
Kendall Halprin ’24, Democratic campaign manager, said, “The campaign has given me significant insight into how every part of a political campaign needs to be strategic: the press releases, the advertising, even small financial details.”
Although their candidates don’t see eye to eye on much, Lovejoy, Staber, Nalle and Halprin can agree on one thing: the project has sparked or deepened their interest in studying politics.
Although the real U.S. presidential election is almost a year away, students won’t have to wait as long to find out if their fictional candidate is heading to the Oval Office, since the mock election takes place tomorrow, Thursday, December 14.
No matter the outcome, Halprin, who plans to study political science in college, is optimistic about the future: “This field of study is incredibly important to me because it determines the future of mine and future generations. I’ve felt that many people are losing hope in politics, and I am determined to change that.”
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