College Studets Evaluate Credibilty Behind Endorsements

The silence startled me today when I walked through the center of campus without political solicitation. I must have become addicted to the noise because I find myself stomping crunchy leaves whenever I get the chance just to create some sort of background noise.

Despite the tranquility, there are still reminders that the campus has not forgotten the forthcoming election. Today at college gate, students stuck messages of why they voted for all to see.

Strangely, endorsements were not on any of the messages, unless you count the one that stated: "I voted because a corporation paid me to."

So what is the value of the endorsement?

If Chuck Norris couldn't get Mike Huckabee elected, what chance does John McCain have with Stephen Baldwin?

Surely Oprah has all the money in the world, but will she be a driving force in sending Barack Obama to the White House? You don't want to get on the bad side of Oprah's audience, just ask these mortgage bankers.

But do college students get caught up in the allure of a Luke Perry endorsement or any other celebrity hunk or skank?

"I'm ultimately going to vote for whoever I think is worth supporting," said Ohio University freshman Dominique Aaron. The Cleveland native said she is voting for Obama because she thinks he is the better candidate, a conclusion she came to in her senior year of high school.

On the other hand, McCain supporter Katey Mueller, a sophomore political science major at OU, said one Obama turned her off him as a candidate.

"If I was going to vote for Barack Obama, then I would be upset by Oprah Winfrey's endorsement," Katey told me earlier this week. "I just hate Oprah."

Granted, Katey did not straight up make her decision based on an endorsement, she does serve as an example of how people do care about endorsements to some degree. Think about it. If endorsements don't at least sway some voters, why would talk show hosts and journalists press so hard to get people to publicly throw themselves behind a candidate?

"Creditability is what matters of course," OU freshman Trinity Bracy said to me as we talked politics in her dorm. "Justin (Timberlake) is cool and all, but compared to Colin Powell, he's like an ant on the flag pole. Colin Powell is the flag. What can he say? 'I'm Justin Timberlake. I brought sexy back. Vote for Obama.'"

In one night, I went into a dorm and interviewed six students: Trinity, Katey, Dominique sophomore Katey Gelett and freshmen Mike Desposito and Kershauna Young. Three of the six declared they were going to vote (or already voted) for Obama. One said she was going with McCain. The other two remain undecided. Out of the six, only Trinity and Mike mentioned the endorsement by Colin Powell (one had no idea who Colin Powell is). Both saw it as a big deal.

"That could be the difference in getting a vote," Trinity said. "Someone could be pro Colin Powell and be unsure and that will be the difference between Barack and McCain."

In case some one is reading this and thinking who the hell is Colin Powell, he was the a general in the U.S. Army and then became the Secretary of State for President George W. Bush. He was a member of the Republican party, but he went with Obama. Check out the video from last Sunday's "Meet the Press":


So my interviews did not exactly turn up a black and white answer to the question of endorsement value. But the gray answer may be that endorsements act as a declaration of friendship.

In my opinion, I could care less if you served on an education board with a washed-up terrorist or if a Baldwin brother threatens to leave the country if you aren't elected.

As for Colin Powell, I do not think his endorsement will sway undecided millennial voters. But I wanted to bring attention to his endorsement specifically because I think his entire message is extremely important if the United States is to get where it needs to be.

"What if Barack Obama is a Muslim?" Powell asked, even though without a doubt Obama has always been a Christian.

A girl I used to work with posted this video on Facebook and brought up another good question. How did we get this far into the election, which has been filled with ignorant voters screaming their fears of a closet-Muslim president.

That message of tolerance is something worth endorsing.

--
Check out this site to see a million reasons to vote.