As the presidential election draws near, and the Democratic Party begins the process of selecting a candidate, some University Democrats are joining support groups to back the runner they want to win the party nomination.
Two of these groups, Generation Dean and Students for Clark, are gaining attention on campus.
Generation Dean, a national support group for Howard Dean, is the largest organized support group for a candidate with 1,100 chapters and 23,000 members.
Generation Dean member Corey Tisdale, a political science senior, said the group is a self-directed organization that operates independently from the Dean campaign.
Tisdale said no one is officially in charge of the LSU branch.
The Generation Dean branch at LSU currently has about 40 active members and was the first organization at the University to back a single candidate.
“Generation Dean is kind of like a visibility venue,” Tisdale said. “We make our own decisions about how we should operate.”
Although each Generation Dean chapter is required to be centered around a University, anyone between the ages of 18 and 30 is welcome to join, student or not, and participate in various group functions.
“One of the goals of Generation Dean is empowering the people who are involved,” Tisdale said. “We do volunteer work and register voters while spreading Dean awareness and having fun.”
Four University students from Generation Dean recently traveled north to help Dean campaign for the Iowa Caucus.
To raise money for the Dean campaign, the group rented a bar in New Orleans and held a party called “Dean Rocks.”
About 450 people attended the event and the organization made $2,000 at the door and about $3,500 in donations.
Another Democrat support group on campus, Students for Clark, also is trying to garner support for a single nominee, Gen. Wesley Clark.
John Cassaniol, a business freshman, is the LSU coordinator for Students for Clark.
Cassaniol said Students for Clark is starting to attract more members.
“Our small, but growing group currently has about 15 people actively working, but there are many others who have shown interest in on-campus activities,” Cassaniol said.
A national organization like Generation Dean, Students for Clark has between 9,000 and 10,000 total members.
Cassaniol recently returned from New Hampshire, where he worked with volunteers in support of the Clark campaign.
Cassaniol said the organization is for independent and free-thinking people.
“We’re not about divisive politics,” Cassaniol said. “We’re about bringing people together, Democrats, Republicans and Independents.”
Students for Clark currently is working on getting Better Than Ezra to play a benefit show.
The University’s main Democratic organization, the College Democrats, is not backing anyone until the party nominates an official presidential candidate.
Krystal Williams, a political science senior, is the president of the College Democrats.
She said that some members of Generation Dean and Students for Clark also participate in College Democrats.
“College Democrats is the umbrella for all of the Democratic organizations at LSU,” Williams said. “We work with a wide span of student organizations and are the most diverse club on campus.”
Williams said the College Democrats have 45 active members and roughly 300 others.
Aside from establishing a democratic forum for students to voice their political opinions, the College Democrats also are involved with the state Democratic party.
In preparation for the upcoming presidential election, Louis Rainey, the political director for Louisiana’s state Democratic Party, is training the College Democrats on how to correctly campaign for a candidate.
One of the top priorities for these three clubs is getting voters registered for the Louisiana primary March 9.
The primary will give Louisiana residents a chance to vote for the candidate they want to win the party nomination.
Each club plans to set up tables in Free Speech Alley and provide voter registration services.
“It only takes about a minute to get registered,” Wiliams said. “It’s important that people who want to vote come and get registered.”
Tisdale said the deadline for registration for the Louisiana primary is Feb. 9. If prospective voters do not get their registration cards mailed to them by election day, they can contact their local office of registrars to ensure that they are on the list of registered voters.