The Brown & White

With all the campus buzz surrounding the Democratic candidates, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, the College Republicans are trying to shift focus to their candidate: Sen. John McCain.

Lehigh Students for McCain, a group formed by the College Republicans, held its first meeting on April 14 to discuss strategy for gaining campus support for McCain.

Lehigh Valley McCain coordinator, Christy Schlottman, attended the meeting to offer the group advice on how it can campaign for McCain on campus.

"We wanted to get some type of response and presence going after being bombarded with support for the other two candidates," Schlottman said.

Although it is still early to start campaigning for the election in November, student support for the other two candidates is already heavy, members said.

Adam Segal, '08, said he sees the need for immediate action.

"I'd say the presence of active conservatives and republicans on campus is minimal compared to liberal and democrat …," Segal said. "The atmosphere that the campus fosters is very one sided toward the left as of right now."

But rather than put the democratic candidates down, Schottman stressed she wanted to keep the campaign positive and focused on McCain.

The group will focus on grass root efforts, Schlottman said, which won't require a large amount of money since their isn't any funding.

Students at the meeting expressed their eagerness to begin campaigning.

"I just want to do whatever I can to help out with the campaign," Brad Riddle, '09, said. "I've been a McCain fan for a long time and I really want to help him get elected."

To get things started, the group set up tables in the University Center and Ulrich Student Center on Tuesday and Wednesday to hand out information.

A Facebook group was also set up to attract more attention to its cause. The group has about 45 members at Lehigh.

Besides these two efforts, Schlottman gave some other ideas and ways to rally support.

She suggested using volunteers to make phone calls and go door to door letting people know about McCain and his platform.

All the efforts of the group will be important come November since Pennsylvania is a swing state, Devin Powers, '09, said.

"It's a really important state," Powers said. "If we could win Pennsylvania and a few other swing states, it'd be really easy to see McCain winning the election."

Schlottman said this area is going to be a hot one, so it's a fun time to get involved.

Schlottman said the hard work of student volunteers, like Powers, often pays off.

"I've always been a John McCain supporter and I believe very strongly that the country would be better served by having another republican president," Powers said. "I think that the two democratic candidates are particularly weak. McCain is a guy I trust and really think would be a fantastic president."