Despite Obama’s second-term win, political clubs fight to create political presence

By Danny Kelleher
Editor-in-Chief

Political activism clubs at Mira Costa have had to make new efforts to stay politically involved after President Barack Obama was re-elected for a second term. Prior to the Obama’s win, the main political clubs on campus focused primarily on the national election.

According to members of both Young Democrats Club and Young Republicans Club, attendance at meetings almost always peaks in the months prior to presidential elections.

“In my freshman year before the 2008 presidential election, [Bill] Fauver’s room would literally be packed,” former Young Democrats Club President and Costa alumnus Michael Powell said. “It was always a struggle to figure out what to do after.”

In Young Democrats Club, presidents senior Adam Gerard and junior Joe Marine have decided to go in a direction of local advocacy and city politics in order to maintain the club’s relatively high attendance levels.

“We are definitely focusing on local politics,” Gerard said. “It’s important to stay involved in the community Manhattan Beach City Council elections, along with [School] Board candidate endorsements. These elections are great ways for us to be involved.”

Young Republicans Club is currently looking for different ways to remain active and involved in both the Mira Costa and Manhattan Beach communities. Club presidents seniors Nick Jones and Morgan Thaler are currently deciding on which direction to take their on-campus club.

“We are trying to figure out what we want to spend our money on because we have raised so much,” Thaler said. “We are having some trouble deciding which political avenue we want to donate to, but this is what the club is planning on discussing within the next couple weeks.”

Thaler and Gerard both acknowledge that there has been a dip in club attendance since the November elections.

“We have a core of around 10 members who consistently come, but besides that it really fluctuates by week nowadays,” Thaler said.

This past October, the two clubs co-hosted a lunch debate centered around the November presidential election in the auditorium. Roughly 200 students attended. Both clubs, although there was no declared winner, felt the event was an extreme success.

Officers from both clubs are already planning another one of these debates for later in the school year.
“I have talked to Nick [Jones], and we want to do another debate,” Gerard said. “We’ve thought about job creation, debt reduction and immigration for next year’s debate.”