Student Government senator and presidential candidate Andy Palermo held a brief press conference Friday in the Atchafalaya Room of the Student Union, where he was joined and supported by the leaders of the Unity ’09 and One Voice ‘09 campaigns.Laura Boggs, former vice presidential candidate for the One Voice ‘09 campaign, began the conference by welcoming the supporters of Palermo’s Next Level ticket. Boggs said she was officially endorsing the Next Level ticket because Palermo is the most experienced and qualified candidate.Both the Unity ‘09 and One Voice ‘09 campaigns failed to qualify for Tuesday’s runoff.Boggs also mentioned her support for vice presidential candidate Phoebe Hathorn, who works with Boggs in the SG executive staff.”If every executive staffer worked as hard as Phoebe, everything would run smoother,” Boggs said.Hathorn was unable to attend the conference because she was sick, according to Palermo.Former presidential candidate of the One Voice ‘09 campaign Greg Upton followed Boggs. Upton said he and his campaign had been blessed by their supporters during the general election, but after his loss, he said he would support Palermo.”While the election did not turn out as we had hoped, there is still a candidate who is maybe the second-best choice,” Upton said.Upton also said he was supporting the Next Level over the More ‘09 campaign because of presidential candidate Stuart Watkins’ brief record in the SG senate.Upton said during his tenure with SG, Watkins never sponsored a bill and hardly participated in any debates. Upton also said his running mate, Martina Scheuermann, had no experience in SG.”Her involvement in the UCFY College Council, while commendable, is no preparation for running for vice president,” Upton said.Ari Krupkin, former presidential candidate for the Unity ‘09 campaign, added his official endorsement to Palermo’s ticket. He said the Next Level ticket was the campaign which most closely mirrored his own.”We have argued that this campaign is not about who has the most experience, but who is the most capable to bring about the change that SG needs,” Krupkin said.His former running mate, Melanie Oubre, said she believed Palermo’s ticket was the most capable and experienced in the run-off election.”It is not time for ‘more;’ it is time to keep working with what we have and take LSU to the next level,” Oubre said.Palermo thanked his former opponents for their support and asked the rest of the student body for an opportunity to win their support as well.”I can’t do this alone, but with y’all’s help, we can get it done,” Palermo said.
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