Although students were promised P. Diddy and a non-partisanvoter rally, Party at the Polls had neither.
The event was advertised as a rally for young voters regardlessof political lines, but almost every person who spoke endorsedDemocratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry or spoke poorlyof President George W. Bush.
The rally was at Southern University, hosted by It’s TimeProductions, And What Productions and SU Student Government.
Many officials attended the rally, including Senators MaryLandreiu and John Breaux; Oliver Thomas, a New Orleans citycouncilman; Sen. Kip Holden, an East Baton Rouge mayor-presidentcandidate; Rep. Arthur Morrell, a U.S. Senate candidate; andLeonard Moore, a LSU history professor.
Although Landreiu did not specifically tell students to vote forKerry, she implied her preference.
Landreiu discussed both Louisiana and national issues. She toldstudents to choose the candidate who has the best plan for peaceand then pointed out Kerry’s plan, implying his was best.
Jason Hughes, an attendant of the event, spoke poorly of Bush’srecord and told students that if they want change they need toelect Kerry. The Louisiana State Representative for Citizen Changeannounced Hughes was going to talk about the history of voting, buthe instead rallied for Kerry.
Thomas used hip-hop lyrics from LL Cool J to motivate studentsto vote. Speaking to Bush, Thomas said voters were going to “knockyou out of office,” a play off of LL Cool J’s song “Mama Said KnockYou Out.”
Morrell also spoke poorly of Bush.
“W is stupid,” Morrell said. He told students Bush knows nothingand young people must vote to decide their future.
Moore urged students to respect their bodies and the oppositesex, but did not say much about voting. He told students he wasmore concerned about what happens after the Nov. 2 election.
Shanaya Williams, a Southern psychology junior, said theSouthern newspaper suggested on Tuesday that P. Diddy was notcoming to Party at the Polls. She and her friends said few studentsattended because they knew about P. Diddy’s absence.
It’s Time Productions, owned by LSU political science studentsLandon Franklin and Donald Washington and Southern mechanicalengineering student Kurk Roberson, was the driving force behindParty at the Polls. They said they hoped the event would bridge thegap between Southern and LSU.
Since many young people do not watch the news and are unaware ofthe issues, Roberson said they hoped Party at the Polls wouldeducate and motivate young voters.
Franklin said they were inspired to create a voting rally afterthey attended the Hip Hop Summit, a program that uses hip-hop musicto educate and address societal concerns, in New Orleans. At thesummit, Franklin said their company made connections which theyused to create Party at the Polls.
Franklin said they chose P. Diddy’s Vote or Die campaign becauseit represents the seriousness of voting. He said they want studentsto know voting is important and their one vote will count.
Also, Washington said they decided on Vote or Die because iteducates young people on the voting process.
Franklin said most politicians overlook young people becausemany do not exercise their right to vote. He said they want to showpoliticians that they no longer can ignore young people.
Holden stressed the civil rights movement and told students to”vote for those who have died so we can have this right.” He saidstudents should remember all the people who fought for the rightsof blacks, no matter their race or gender.