Editorial: Campaign trailblazers

Friday, March 14, 2008

Instead of focusing on advertising candidates for this Student Senate election season, Delta Force has chosen to spend its time focusing on two issues: sustainability and sexual health. This could not only give Delta Force the chance to grow as a coalition, but it could also set a new standard in campaigning.

Co-presidents John Cross, Kansas City, Mo., senior, and Bridey Maidhof, Overland Park senior, said the coalition chose not to run candidates through group decision-making.

“Those were the issues that people in the group were most passionate about,” Cross said.

The co-presidents said the time and money spent on campaigning for elections could be better spent focusing on those two issues.

At first glance, it seems counterintuitive to abandon Student Senate representation in favor of an informational campaign. However, Cross provided an excellent rationale for Delta Force’s decision.

“You’re selling the issues, not selling yourself,” he said.

When a coalition is primarily occupied with gaining and retaining Senate seats, its focus becomes selling its brand. If Delta Force doesn’t have the pressure of putting up candidates, it can safely focus on its issues of choice without worrying that its basic ideals are compromised.

Taking competitiveness out of the equation ensures that these issues campaigns are about just that — the issues.

The primary goal of the sustainability campaign is to encourage Chancellor Robert Hemenway to sign the President’s Climate Commitment, a pact that would reduce or offset the University’s greenhouse gas emissions. Maidhof said that 498 other universities had already signed the Commitment.

“It’s almost an embarrassment to see how far behind KU is,” Maidhof said.

A biodiesel lab and more energy-efficient buildings are also on the coalition’s sustainability agenda. Cross and Maidhof acknowledged that their green campaign was a long-term project, and they hoped students would be able to appreciate sustainability on a campus scale.

It is wise to put emphasis on campus sustainability in particular, given that green issues can be vague and left unaddressed. If the University takes on more local projects, there’s a better chance that more people will understand sustainability as a relevant issue.

The second issue of sexual health is equally important. Maidhof and Cross said STI testing, rising birth control costs, Watkins Health Center policies and research were possible topics to explore.

The main concern about Delta Force’s plan is whether it will show any tangible results.

There is no precedent of a coalition undertaking anything like this, so the plan’s feasibility is hard to gauge.

The impetus for implementing strong sustainability and sexual health awareness policies rests ultimately not with Delta Force, but instead with the students it seeks to inform. A group can only hand out so many fliers and have so many meetings.

At some point, students must decide where they stand on these issues, and on any others that a coalition proposes.

When the cynicism of electoral pressure is removed, the issues can speak for themselves, and students can make decisions unhindered by brand names.

Delta Force’s approach to issues campaigning is a fresh and engaging way to approach students, and it may set a positive precedent in the future.

“I hope that it inspires a new spirit of civic engagement among the student body,” Cross said.

—Kelsey Hayes for the editorial board

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