The Columbia University College Republicans are going blue this election weekend. Or maybe it's more of a blended purple.
A group of mostly College Republicans is planning to spend the weekend volunteering for Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman's re-election campaign. Lieberman, a three-term Connecticut incumbent, is running as an independent after losing the Aug. 8 Democratic primary to anti-war challenger Ned Lamont.
The trip marks a departure for the Republicans from last year's election weekend activities, when they stayed close to home and focused on local races, said former Ann Klibaner, BC '08 and former president of the group.
"We're not asking for people's party affiliation when they come help us," Lieberman deputy press secretary Scott Overland said.
The Lieberman trip, planned for Nov. 5 to Nov. 7, includes about eight College Republicans and two members of LionPAC, a student Israel advocacy group.
A contingent is also going Friday to support New Jersey's Republican senate nominee, State Senator Thomas Kean Jr. LionPAC is teaming with the College Republicans to support Lieberman, though they canvassed with the College Democrats for Kean's opponent, Democratic incumbent Robert Menendez, on Oct. 29.
Lieberman, a staunch supporter of the war in Iraq, lost the Connecticut Democratic primary to anti-war rookie Ned Lamont, a millionaire from Greenwich, Conn. The race garnered national attention, framed by many as a referendum on the war. Lieberman is running as an independent candidate in the newly formed Connecticut for Lieberman Party. He has said that he will caucus with the Democrats if elected.
College Republicans member Matt Schoenfeld, CC '08, proposed the Lieberman trip. "We think that just because Lieberman departed from the status quo on one issue he doesn't deserve to be ostracized from having his voice heard in Washington," Schoenfeld said.
Current College Republicans President Chris Kulawik said he plans to attend the Lieberman and Kean trips.
Kulawik, CC '08 and a Spectator columnist, disagrees with Lieberman on many points but said, "I think Joe Lieberman has a good understanding of foreign policy."
Kulawik was recently thrust into the media spotlight after the College Republicans invited Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist to campus. The event ended in a violent altercation between Gilchrist supporters and protesters and is still under investigation by the University.
Kulawik emphasized that outings and events are supported, but not endorsed, by the College Republicans.
"We're a group dedicated to Republicans on Columbia's campus," Kulawik said. Because the group's activities are all ideas pitched by members, a spectrum of political activities end up under its auspices.
"There are over 600 members in the CRs at Columbia, and that's an important fact: we're a pretty significant minority," Klibaner, who is studying abroad, wrote in an e-mail.
The Lieberman campaign is funding transportation and housing for the trip to Connecticut. Paying for volunteers is common practice, said trip organizer Miri Cypers, BC '08, LionPAC political affairs director and Spectator food editor. Cypers worked for the Lieberman campaign last summer before the primary. At that time, the campaign spent over $50,000 on bus and van rentals for volunteers, the Hartford Courant reported Oct. 22.
Overland declined to comment on how much the campaign is paying to transport and house specific volunteer groups this election weekend.
The Columbia group will be pitching in as needed, Cypers said. On Election Day, most volunteers will go to polling stations to show voters where Lieberman's name is now located on the ballot.
A Quinnipiac poll from Nov. 1 showed Lieberman leading Democratic candidate Ned Lamont by 12 points. The Republican candidate, Alan Schlesinger, was at 8 percent, and 5 percent of voters remained undecided. Most Republican voters support Lieberman.
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