The College Democrats have decided to endorse U.S. Senator John Kerry for President.
The decision came after the group deliberated whether to endorse a candidate at their meeting on Sunday.
Of those present at the meeting, two thirds of the club wanted to endorse a candidate and, according to sophomore Saul Garlick, "There was an overwhelming support for Kerry. Everyone had their own reasons, but we were mostly excited by the prospects of Kerry being a very presidential and liberal candidate."
"So far, Senator Kerry is the ideal candidate. Not only does he espouse all of the Democratic principals, but he has the discipline, the domestic and foreign experience that exceeds any of the other candidates, and most of all has the most potential to bring the Democrats back into power in the executive branch," said College Democrats President Hope Kelaher.
Sophomore Stephanie Hausner, a member of the College Democrats who was once campus coordinator for Joe Lieberman, supported the decision.
"My original choice was between Lieberman and Kerry, and now believe Kerry is the best candidate there."
Garlick called Kerry a "solid liberal" and also praised him for his experience and war-hero military background. "We really think he can beat Bush," Garlick said. "Chances are he's going to get nominated, and we wanted to get in the process early."
The idea of endorsing a candidate emerged months ago among the board of the College Democrats, and the idea previously had been to endorse candidate Howard Dean, yet it never went before the entire group.
"When endorsing a candidate," Garlick said, "the decision should not be made by a few, but by a large group, and we had a substantial amount of people at our Sunday meeting who voted to endorse Kerry."
Although the group is still waiting until they get word from the Kerry campaign about its plan for the state of Maryland and how the campus group will fit into the plan, Hausner said the endorsement gives the Democrats a chance to organize and support the candidate from now until the election in November.
"We're hoping this will bring unity amongst organized Democrats on campus," Hausner said. The group plans to start getting the word out through flyers and "Rock the Vote" events. Kerry will also be endorsed by the Hopkins Donkey, the Democratic publication on campus. "We're trying to get people to express interest about politics on campus," she said.
"Seeing that the JHU College Democrats is the arm of the Democratic party whose primary aim is to ensure that a Democratic candidate wins the November election, we felt that it is crucial for the club and election to throw our support behind the one candidate who as of now has the most potential to ensure that this country has a bright, future... and by that I mean ensuring that a Democrat is in office," Kelaher said.
