Mike Nadler Elected Dems President

With last night's vote, Mike Nadler, CC '07, has become the newly-elected president of the College Democrats.

Together with Chris Kulawik, CC '08, and president-elect of the College Republicans, students can look forward to a year of healthy political debate beginning in the fall. Both Kulawik and Nadler identify themselves as further from the political center than those they defeated and those that they will succeed.

"One of the biggest problems that the Democratic party has is that it's not seen as standing for anything," said Nadler after being notified of his victory, which was announced to resounding applause. "That contrast will be more stark and really help both organizations in terms of making our messages clear."

Nadler-whose father Jerrod Nadler is a Democratic Congressman from New York-defeated current treasurer Jonathan Siegel, CC '08, in a narrowly contested race that centered around whether the group should focus more on local or national political issues and races. Nadler said the group could do both, while his opponent-who identifies himself as a moderate-advocated a concentration on the state of New York rather than Washington, D.C.

"I voted for Mike, because he's more accessible as a candidate, and I relate more to the liberal side," said Becky Fried, BC '07.

Organizers of the College Democrats estimated their turnout at over 100 people, packing Lerner's Satow Room and forcing outgoing president Seth Flaxman, CC '07, to herd the audience members to their seating.

Last year, both the Democrats' presidential and vice presidential races were uncontested. Since then, the organization has brought several smaller groups under its umbrella-such as the PRO-Israel PRO-gressives, Students for Spitzer, and the Roosevelt Institution-which organizers say may have boosted turnout, along with the tightness of the race.

As a Spectator columnist and president of the Columbia College Conservative Club, Kulawik played a key role in bringing former attorney general John Ashcroft to campus last semester, and he said he intends to bring the party back to its ideological roots.

"That's going to get you more people on your side than saying, 'We're the republicans. Join us,'" said Kulawik, emphasizing the importance of "selling" the group on campus. "This is a party of ideas, not just of people or the administration."

The College Republicans elections took place in a Hamilton classroom filled with about 30 students, which former president Dennis Schmelzer, CC '06, described as a "great turnout, the best I've seen." In his speech, Kulawik had frank criticism for what he described as a lack of well-attended events organized by the Republicans this year, while acknowledging that building a conservative presence at Columbia is an uphill battle.

"Half the conservative speakers in this country are afraid to come to this campus," said Kulawik, noting that he has already approached conservative pundit Ann Coulter, Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, and perennial presidential candidate Pat Buchanan for speaking engagements.

Current Republicans president Ann Klibaner, BC '08, defended the group's activities. "I very much disagree with what Chris said about us not having a presence as a group on campus," she said, attributing the small number of events to lack of funding. "I think we're actually very well-known."