SLU Democrats Events

During the 2004-2005 school year, the SLU Democrats engaged in many successful projects, from voter registration drives to bringing Former Senator Max Cleland (D-GA) to campus. Brief write-ups of the major events are found below:

Voter Registration Drives

In October of 2004, The SLU Democrats registered over 250 members of the campus community to vote. This enormous undertaking was only achieved through the dedication of our members.

Get Out the Vote Effort

In conjunction with the registration drive, we also got out the vote. The weekend before the election, half a dozen SLU Democrats made the long drive to the battle ground state of New Hampshire. In the town of Milford, we split up and went door to door for five hours. In a state where 10,000 votes (1.5% of the total) could have swung it Republican, we knew we made a small difference in bringing out the voters.

Max Cleland Speaks at SLU

In what is arguably the most prominent speaker SLU has hosted in recent years, the SLU Democrats had the pleasure of inviting Former Senator Max Cleland (D-GA) to speak at SLU. Cleland, who introduced John Kerry at during the 2004 Democratic National Convention, gave a talk entitled "The Election is Over…Why Should I Care?." He spoke of the problems that this country will undoubtedly have due to Bush's reelection. Cleland's thirty minute speech was followed by a 45 minute question and answer period. A crowd of around 200 attended the event, and everyone in the campus community as well as surrounding communities was invited. Turnout would have been much higher had we not had an ice storm not been going on!

Before serving in the U.S. Senate, Cleland served in the U.S. Army from 1965-1968. After losing three limbs in Vietnam, Cleland returned to Georgia where he was elected to the state senate, and later served as Secretary of State. He was elected in 1996 to the U.S. Senate, but was defeated in 2002 by Saxby Chambliss through a series of particularly dirty campaign ads.

Cleland's speech was taped by North Country Public Radio. You can listen to both the speech and question and answer session by clicking the appropriate links below. You need the Real Player installed to listen to both: