Mara Gordon | Bringing the mayoral race home, literally

On a recent warm, almost-summer Tuesday evening, the Penn Democrats were working hard.

As I approached the base of the 38th Street bridge, where three club members were stationed, the group's president called out to me. "Are you registered to vote in the Democratic primary?" he asked, handing me an absentee ballot request form.

I'm not. But thanks to the Penn Democrats' efforts I will be soon - and so will hundreds of other Penn students.

Earlier this semester, I wrote a column calling on the organization to get itself in gear for this spring's mayoral election. The Democratic primary is on May 15, and since the city votes almost exclusively for that party, the next mayor of Philadelphia will probably be chosen on that day. Penn students can provide potentially hundreds of votes, a significant number that could swing the election.

Unfortunately, May 15 is one day after commencement. It would be easy for the candidates to write us off, since most students won't be here to vote.

But thanks to the Penn Democrats, the candidates are paying more attention to Penn than ever.

That evening earlier this week was like many the Democrats have in store in the coming weeks. Club members have turned out in droves to help out, diligently passing out absentee ballot request forms and voter registration documents. They are there on Locust Walk during the noontime rush; they are at Hill for the freshman dining hall crowd.

Penn Democrats President and Wharton sophomore Clayton Robinson estimates they've passed out at least a thousand forms, and plan on getting a few thousand more into the hands of students in the next month.

Since most students will be voting absentee, Robinson recommends that students request absentee ballots by April 17. If students mail in their votes before the May 15 primary, Robinson says, we will have a real shot at affecting the election's outcome.

Not everyone was eager, that Tuesday night, to hear what Robinson and his friends had to say. Hungry students ignored the Penn Democrats' pleas to take registration forms and hurried in to dinner at Commons. Many said they were registered Democrats but didn't stop to hear about voting absentee.

"It's harder for the mayoral election just because the issues aren't thrown in front of you," Robinson said. "It's an uphill struggle."

It's an uphill struggle that the Penn Democrats are tackling with energy and enthusiasm. The organization is planning to plaster University buildings with fliers outlining the major reasons to vote. They run canvassing campaigns for Michael Nutter, the Democratic candidate the Penn Democrats endorsed earlier this semester. They're flooding the campus with information about the election, and it's getting harder and harder for students to ignore them.

Luckily, it's also making the candidates themselves pay attention to what Penn students want.

Robinson and other club leaders can rattle off reason after reason why students should vote: crime in West Philadelphia, high prices in local stores because of the city's Business Privilege Tax, more money for local schools in which Penn students volunteer. The candidates themselves are pushing the same issues the Penn Democrats are.

Nutter's campaign seems pleased with the endorsement. He filmed Penn Democrats for a commercial that he is planning to air on local channels before the election, and he is a special guest at the group's annual Evening in Blue fundraiser next week.

The group was even profiled in a Philadelphia Weekly article called "Nerds for Nutter." The article discussed how the city's intelligentsia - apparently exemplified by the Penn Democrats - was flocking to support this underdog candidate.

The Penn Democrats' hard work is paying off.

As club members handed out fliers on Tuesday, an unlikely pair came by: the leaders of the Penn College Republicans. Wharton junior Michael Shiely - the group's president - and College junior Sean-Tamba Matthew didn't take voter registration forms, but they did stop to talk.

"Are you guys registered to vote as Democrats in the mayoral election?" Robinson asked them, laughing.

Shiely said he was registered at home in Wisconsin. "It's going to be the same kind of political party machine person anyway," he continued. "These are the kind of people the city wants, Clayton."

"Well," Robinson responded, "We're going to change that."

And that just might be true.

Mara Gordon is a College junior from Washington, D.C. Her e-mail address is gordon@dailypennsylvanian.com. Flash Gordon appears on Thursdays.

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