In the comparison of College Dems vs. College Reps…
It’s hard to say who won the attendance game. For the Hillary Clinton event a couple of weeks ago, we had 400 spaces saved for the College Democrats group - and probably 320-330ish came to claim their seats. Somehow John McCain’s campaign staff gave us a much, much larger allotment of seats - 900! - but maybe only 500-600 of them came.
I think there were three major factors hurting attendance on the College Republicans side: 1) finals are still going on, 2) most students today do not want to get up before 9 am if at all possible, and 3) lastnight was Cinco de Mayo and it was a time to party : )
In all seriousness, I was as impressed with the organization and dedication of our College Republicans as I was with the students in the College Democrats. Their student leaders put in a lot of time for the event and did everything from directing traffic to checking guest names off the list, to stamping hands for admittance. We managed to get a few top College Republicans in for a private meet and greet with Senator McCain, and I was so glad for them to get that opportunity. Once again, Wake Forest offered an amazing opportunity for some hardworking students.
The Chapel was not full when I left the McCain event (sadly I have a meeting and could not attend the whole thing) - which was something of a surprise. I snuck a peek at Senator McCain’s VIP guest list and one of the gentlemen on the list was a fellow guest at the Hanoi Hilton with him. I wish I had had the chance to meet him and say thank you for his brave service. No matter whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, I have to believe most people respect the extreme duress those poor folks went through.