Young Dems aim for congressional seats

Months after the national election Democrats and Republicans are fighting another heated battle — this time for seats in Student Congress.

In recent years members and observers of Congress have acknowledged the presence of a powerful conservative faction in the organization.

Now UNC Young Democrats are launching what their leaders call their largest Congress effort ever.

For the first time the group will announce between 10 and 15 endorsements for Congress races at its forum tonight along with its usual student body president pick.

Co-president Charlie Sellew said the organization's leaders interviewed about 17 potential candidates for the endorsements.

An informal campaign adviser will help organize Young Democrats members to campaign for the endorsed candidates.

Sellew said the group's experience in last year's state and national elections has given members solid experience in communicating candidates' messages and getting students to vote.

But Co-president Justin Rosenthal and Sellew said the group's effort is nonpartisan and has been more focused on endorsement than recruitment.

Meanwhile recruitment is business as usual for College Republicans.

Duke Cheston administrative vice chairman of the College Republicans and an off-campus Congress candidate said he is in charge of organizing conservative-leaning students to run for seats.

Cheston said he is unsure how many of this year's candidates were tapped by College Republicans but he said he personally recruited about four" including one Libertarian.

""The only thing we care about" as far as Student Congress is fiscal responsibility Cheston said. If Democrats care about fiscal responsibility" we're more than willing to work with them.""

Bryan Weynand" Congress speaker pro tem and editor of the conservative Carolina Review magazine" said College Republicans often are concerned with smart spending and see Congress as a good fit for their interests.

Opinions vary as to how much real-world political ideology matters in Student Congress.

""There's not really killing babies or taking away the Second Amendment or anything" Cheston said.

But Cheston is not the first to express concern that an influx of liberal representatives might block funding for conservative groups and events.

Rosenthal said he thinks that such fears are misplaced and that liberal representatives won't base their votes on ideology.

Sellew said that Young Democrats will not be endorsing only Democrats and that his group simply hopes for a wide variety of political viewpoints to be present in Congress.

If the body's going to represent students it has to represent the diversity of students that we have at Carolina" Sellew said. I think in the past it hasn't really done that.""



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.