Despite victories in Iowa last week and New Hampshire Tuesday night, Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) will still not get several Boston University students’ support in the Democratic primaries, they said after polls closed.
College of Arts and Sciences junior Megan Campbell said she is backing retired Gen. Wesley Clark during the primaries, though she has also tried to stay informed about other candidates and their moves.
“I’m a Clark supporter,” she said. “I would’ve hoped that he would’ve done better … I check the candidates’ websites on a regular basis to see the issues they focus on at the moment and see how they react to what’s going on.”
University Professors Program sophomore Jacqueline Bennett said she will remain a Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) supporter despite Kerry’s victories.
“[Edwards’] friendly personality makes a big difference,” she said. “I would stick with him even though I don’t think he’s going to get the nomination … It seems like [former Vermont Gov. Howard] Dean’s looking better now, but he’s probably not going to catch up.”
College of Fine Arts junior and Kerry supporter Matt Olivera said he was happy to see Kerry win, but still feels the race is anybody’s to win.
“I’m thrilled with Kerry winning,” he said. “It’s good to see him come back. He wasn’t on the radar before and now he’s come back.”
Olivera said he believes it is basically down to two candidates for the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in July.
“It’s definitely between Kerry and Dean,” he said. “At this point, the primaries have been up and down and the polls random. You can’t really tell.”
School of Management senior Randy Weaver said he believes Kerry will finish ahead of the other Democrats and that each victory will add momentum to his campaign.
“I think Kerry will ultimately win,” he said. “I think he won the New Hampshire primary because of how he did in Iowa, and it has built on each primary. Everyone thought Dean would take the Democratic bid for sure, but now it’s swung to Kerry.”
Kerry’s Tuesday night win came with almost 40 percent of the vote, and many students said they feel he is now the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, though it is still an open race. CAS senior Enmanuel Antonio said he feels the Iowa caucuses were a turning point in the Dean campaign.
“I think the Iowa caucus[es] hurt Dean and gave Kerry the momentum to win,” he said. “I think Kerry is expected to win, but I really don’t like Kerry. If Dean were to not win, I would take Clark, but not Kerry. The fact is that he changes his opinion often.”
Antonio also said the state of the economy, not the Democratic candidate facing Bush, will determine the president’s fate.
“No single candidate has a good chance of beating Bush,” said the economics major. “If the economy keeps doing well, I think Bush will win by a landslide. If it doesn’t, any Democrat will have a shot at winning.”
CAS sophomore Claire Enterline said Kerry would be the Democratic Party’s best chance at overtaking Bush in the presidential election.
“He has the most experience in dealing with the Republican Party,” she said. “And though he does seem to play the political game a little, changing his opinion or altering his policy, he seems to be the biggest threat to the Bush administration.”
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