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Diverse campaign strikes chord on campus

BY ALEXANDRA POOLOS | Special to Newsday

January 21, 2008

No woman or African-American running for president has generated as much broad appeal as Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. And the candidates' diversity clearly resonates in a nation where the highest office has been the exclusive domain of white men.

But younger voters such as C.W. Post student Atinuke Awoyomi and several others at the Brookville campus say the national debate has overlooked the most exciting part of the campaign: the inspirational effect.

Awoyomi, 20, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Nigeria, says the viability of Clinton and Obama makes the Democratic race inspiring, particularly for a new American like she. "For now, we don't know who's going to win the ticket," said Awoyomi, who lives with her family in Elmont. "I was just telling my dad ... that we have a woman candidate and a black candidate. I think it's really making people think about America in a new way. I think it's going to change the politics of America. It's going to change everything."

Democratic voters say they are keenly aware of the historic level of diversity in the field, which included Hispanic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson until he dropped out. Many voters are now struggling with whether to vote for identity or issues. Although pollsters have yet to figure out how to measure the motivational consequences of this diversity, it's clearly part of the equation, if the C.W. Post students are any judge.

Justin LaFantano, 21, a Post senior of Italian heritage, from Northport, acknowledges that there is a resonance to each candidate's identity, whether it is being a person of color or a woman or coming from a working-class family, as in the case of Democrat John Edwards. Each, he said, had to overcome great odds to earn their candidacy. And that image does matter.

"I like that Obama has community ties and Edwards has a southern Democrat side," he said. "But I also like that Clinton is a woman, and in a way a mother-like figure, which my generation can relate to. A lot of individuals in my generation were raised by women - single women, mothers, grandmothers, and that's the person who was in charge."

Vanessa Sanchez, a senior journalism major at Post of Hispanic heritage, from Sayville, says she has always wanted to run for president. Perplexed about the excitement over Clinton's status as a front-runner, Sanchez says she is more impressed by how long it has taken to have viable female candidates.

"There have been women presidents in Europe and in other countries," she said. "I think it's a wonderful thing that it's happening, but I feel it should have happened a long time ago."

Seasoned politicos are less jaded. Keith Boykin, a political analyst and host on Black Entertainment Television, says the diversity is transformative.

"In the Democratic Party, we're seeing the field representing the country itself."

Boykin, who went to Harvard Law School with Obama and worked in the administration of President Bill Clinton, said, "They are not just running, they are winning. It sends a signal that people can get involved. They can become president, and they can do what they want to do. This is the public vision of America finally catching up with America."

Dorothy Reed, chair of the journalism department at C.W. Post, says she has seen a steady momentum of excitement among her students.

"If there's a negative effect out there I haven't seen it," she said. "Is it empowering? Yes. I'm thinking of one student who is torn between the two candidates [Clinton and Obama]. She's excited as a young woman, even though she's not necessarily saying she's going to vote for Hillary. It's a sense of empowerment; it's a definite 'we' feeling. It's not just Hillary, it's we women."

Still, Reed says that the issue of gender and race is a tricky one, and she's not sure how to measure perceptions of Clinton and Obama, especially in a generation that is in many ways past identity politics.

"When it comes to race and ethnicity, students are beyond that," she said. "They don't speak about that. They say it would be exciting , but they are talking about the hope the candidates generate in terms of issues like the war. But we're not beyond gender. There are a lot of women supporting Hillary because she is a strong woman."

Reed says she can already see that the visibility of the candidates is creating a new way of thinking among her students of color, especially young African-American men.

"I see an enthusiasm and optimism when they speak of him, which I think speaks to that," she said. "It's got to be encouraging to see so many white people supporting Obama. For young black males in this culture, they walk into a store and are automatically suspect. If they are stopped by a police officer, they pray to just get through it. Those are real palpable fears that young African-American males have. An Obama candidacy does not erase those fears. But it does give them a sense of hope of what they can do in this society."