GOP candidates in Show-Me State showdown over college voters
With the Missouri Caucus' March 17 date fast approaching, the Republican nominees for president – minus Newt Gingrich - are criss-crossing the state to reach as many voters as possible before Saturday.
Much of their attention has been focused on reaching communities where the state’s largest universities and colleges are located -- in an effort to attract the youth vote.
Mitt Romney spoke to the William Jewell College community in Liberty, Mo. Tuesday.
However, Spencer Shanks, co-founder of William Jewell’s College Republicans, said he feels Romney is not a true Republican and has not attracted his support.
“He’s not a Republican and for good reason I can’t be sure he’s a Republican because five years ago if you lined up his platform with what President Obama believes you’re going to find a lot of similarities,” Shanks said. “And that is deeply disturbing to me and that makes me very uncomfortable.”
Christine Lagle, co-founder of William Jewell’s College Republicans, was unable to attend the event because she was out of state, but said she is “on the fence” about who she supports for the party nomination.
“It’s too early for me to outright say who I support,” she said. “As it gets closer to the GOP convention, I’m sure I’ll have an answer for you. Just looking at the number of wins in the statewide contests held so far, I think that Mitt Romney is the most likely choice for the party nomination.”
One candidate many are surprised to see still in the running is Rep. Ron Paul, but his support from the college community in the Show-Me state has kept him in the running in Missouri.
Nick Brueggeman, leader of Youth for Ron Paul Missouri State University chapter in Springfield, Mo., fondly refers to Paul by his first name and said Paul appeals to college students’ open-mindedness.
“College kids are a lot more open minded and they’re just now getting into politics – most of them – because they’re just now able to vote,” he said. “So they kind of listen to Ron Paul and they see that a lot of the politicians just follow the status quo - who are kind of corrupt - and when they see Ron Paul, they see an honest man and a great leader.”
Paul and Rick Santorum both held rallies in Springfield this past Saturday and Brueggeman said many of their 160 member group attended Paul’s rally.
“We all went together and just really enjoyed the moment of finally seeing Ron Paul – the person that we all look up to and believe in – in front of us. It was just amazing,” Brueggeman said. “I had tears in my eyes when he walked in. I thought I was going to lose my voice from all the screaming I did. It was everything I could have hoped for.”
Paul will be holding another political rally at the University of Missouri Thursday and they are expecting a large crowd, said Craig Anzen, head of the university’s chapter of College Republicans.
“I think his strength with young people is on the social issues and he’s a little more – you could call it liberal or libertarian – but very get the government out of the issues which aligns a little more with the Democratic party and a lot of young people believe in that cause,” Anzen said.
The Mizzou College Republicans do not endorse any Republican candidate until after the primaries are over, but Anzen said he thought Santorum had an edge in the state after winning Missouri’s non-binding primary on Feb. 7, with Newt Gingrich in the least advantageous position.
“(Gingrich) wasn’t on our ballot during the primary so I think that he’s in the least advantageous position. But I think the other three are all going to have interesting showings on Saturday,” he said.
Whoever the Republican nominee eventually is, Anzen said he believes Missouri will go Republican.
“2008 was a toxic environment for Republicans across the country and Obama lost Missouri,” he said. “I don’t see a way that he wins in Missouri in 2012.”
This is especially important because Missouri has gone for the the winner of the presidential election in every election except for two -- when Eisenhower ran for re-election in 1956 and lost the state to Adlai Stevenson and in 2008 when the state went for McCain instead of Obama.
Brueggeman said this was because of the vastly different backgrounds of those living in Missouri.
“Missouri has a lot of different walks of life. You’ve got Bible Belt, you’ve got rural farmers, you’ve got city and you have a lot of different walks of life,” he said. “There’s not a lot up for grabs in Missouri – it’s not a key state – but if you win Missouri you usually get the presidency.”
Brueggeman said being registered and informed about what your candidate stands for are the most important things you can do to be prepared for the caucus.
“If you’re not registered to vote do it before 5 p.m. on Friday,” Brueggeman said. “If you’re not informed, get informed. Sit down and look at everything. Watch a little YouTube video. Read some stuff and get registered to vote, grab your parents, go out to the caucus and vote.
“And make sure whoever your candidate is to understand how you’re going to get him the delegates because that’s what’s important.”
Megan Gates is a Spring 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.
This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.