Columbia's Political Karma

Never underestimate the power of karma, particularly when it comes to campus politics.

At least that is what I learned from a recent board meeting of the Columbia College Republicans. Last semester, after all, I wrote a column lambasting the leadership of the Columbia College Democrats after a group of Democrats supporting the mayor's reelection bid, under the banner of "Democrats for Bloomberg," sought and were denied official recognition. Little did anyone know that the College Republicans would face a somewhat similar choice this semester in the form of a group entitled "Republicans for Spitzer." What goes around comes around indeed.

Of course, there are some differences between Democrats for Bloomberg and Republicans for Spitzer. At first, for instance, some may have thought Democrats for Bloomberg to be the product of Republican moles. Yet what made the group particularly fascinating was that it was led by past College Democrat leaders, including former College Democrat President Zac Frank, then College Democrat Vice President Rebecca Weber, and a former president of Students for Kerry. In addition, its membership list was already into the double digits. Not your typical Republican moles, to say the least.

By contrast, Republicans for Spitzer is the brain child of Prabal Saxena, the College Republicans' current Treasurer and former Executive Director. With only one member, one might have expected it to be an easy case to vote down. Unlike Democrats for Bloomberg, RFS does not even have a group on thefacebook.com!

Yet the most important difference is that, unlike the College Democrats, the College Republicans board still voted overwhelmingly to recognize the new student group. It was certainly not because a majority of the board supports Spitzer, for they do not. Instead, it was because a majority of the board supports and respects the group's founder and any other Republicans on campus that might want to join the group. After all, they recognized Prabal as a reliable Republican and his views as legitimate, regardless of where they took him on the partisan race for Governor of New York.

In short, the College Republicans decided that they would rather hear what he has to say and keep his valuable voice within the party instead of trying to stifle his views because they conflict with those of a majority of its members. The College Republicans chose dialogue over dismissal.

Given this decision, one might be tempted to compare it to the College Democrats' decision to do just the opposite for Democrats for Bloomberg. Current Dems President Seth Flaxman, who was the group's Membership Director at the time, defended the decision by explaining that "I am always happy to neutralize the partisanship of issues by working with Republicans, but I think it is obviously counter to the mission of the College Democrats to work with Republicans in order to get a member of the Republican Party elected."

The problem is that nobody was asking the College Democrats to work with Republicans at all. Instead, Democrats themselves-led by former College Democrat leaders-were asking their own campus organization to recognize their own political efforts. All they wanted was recognition on the College Democrat Web site and perhaps a mention in College Democrat e-mails. Flaxman's response, though, amounted to a much-beloved Bush quote: "You're either with us, or you're against us." To him, those who support Bloomberg might as well be Republicans and should be treated as such.

In addition, Flaxman noted that, "This is not my opinion exclusively but the overwhelming opinion of the General Body," suggesting that only Democrats who are part of the "overwhelming majority" of the College Democrats' membership have the right to ask the Dems for recognition of their efforts. Ironically, though, a Marist poll from September 6, 2005-taken just days before the Democratic primaries-gives reason to question Flaxman's concept of an "overwhelming majority." After all, that poll found that 42 percent of New York Democrats would support Mayor Bloomberg if he were a choice in the Democratic primary, with Fernando Ferrer trailing behind at only 23 percent. If Columbia's Democrats are at all representative of other Democrats in New York, these figures show just how many Democrats Flaxman was content to ignore.

Karma is useful in looking at the consequences of the actions of different groups and people. Above all else, it shows who has character and who has just words. With their swift recognition of Republicans for Spitzer, the College Republicans pass my karma test. The same cannot be said of the College Democrats.

Upon becoming Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean outlined his vision of the Democratic Party, noting that, "We all know that we're the party of the big tent and new ideas." I would challenge the College Democrats' leadership to live up to Dean's vision. Unfortunately, with their treatment of Democrats for Bloomberg on this campus, actions have already spoken louder than words.

Dennis Schmelzer is a Columbia College senior majoring in economics-political science. Talking Turkey runs alternate Mondays.