From tweeting to “tabling,” Ohio University’s Student Senate candidates have established different approaches to campaigning this election season.
Whether it is online or in-person, REACH, yOU and both independent candidates have committed to various styles of attracting votes.
REACH, began tabling, or promoting their campaign from a table outside Baker University Center, on the first day of the campaign season and plans to continue establishing a presence on-and -offline, said Zach George, the ticket’s presidential candidate.
REACH will table for seven hours two or three times a week until OU’s election day, which falls on May 17, he said.
“The Internet does play a big part of our campaign because that’s our theme —the 21st century,” said George, a junior studying finance. “But face-to-face contact, nothing replaces that.”
REACH also has a website, REACH4OU.com, and maintains Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts with about 500 followers.
The ticket will be spending the majority of its $2,500–$4,000 of raised funds on advertising such as banners and pamphlets, said Evan Ecos, REACH’s treasurer candidate.
“In this day and age, there are so many outlets that we can connect with people,” said Tony Koehling, yOU’s presidential candidate. “We don’t necessarily have to be in their face. Most students are stressed out with exams and papers. When they’re walking through Baker, they don’t need to be stopped.”
The yOU ticket has developed a WordPress blog, vote4you12.wordpress.com. It also has Facebook and Twitter accounts, which reached 100 followers in the first two days of the campaign, Koehling said.
With a social media-based campaign, Koehling said he will make sure students are aware of his ticket’s values.
“We will be out and people will see us,” said Koehling, a junior studying political science. “The first two days, we just started doing work. But we will be spending plenty of time out talking to the public.”
Koehling has raised $145 by collecting $9 from each yOU candidate, plus an extra $1 from himself.
He plans on sticking to this budget by sharing art supplies and producing homemade T-shirts and banners.
Jared Henderson, an independent candidate running for president, will focus his campaigning efforts on establishing an online presence as well. The site he is developing will launch next week, he said.
“I’m going to use a free blogging service to create a very stripped-down, basic website that will say what I stand for,” said Henderson, a junior studying philosophy. “I don’t think that students really care about the graphics, and it doesn’t have to be a work of art. They just want to get content without having to search for it.”
Henderson also is getting involved with student organizations so voters will see that, if elected, he would “live up to the things he would do.” For example, he attended OU’s tuition hike protest last Wednesday.
“That helps people choose their president,” Henderson said.
Henderson is not fundraising, although many people have wanted to donate to his campaign, he said.
“I do more man hours on the ground, which is strictly for the campaign,” Henderson added. “I like spending more time doing that.”
Jiuqing Cheng, independent SAC at large senator candidate, is trying to reach the Chinese demographic via Renren.com, a Chinese social-networking website similar to Facebook.
“I made some posts on the website to express myself and show my ideas and what I want to do if I were elected,” Cheng said.
Cheng also is making pamphlets and flyers to distribute throughout campus and restaurants in the area, he said.
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