Young, Republican and Inspired by Palin
By AMANDA M. FAIRBANKS
Published: October 28, 2008
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Of the 2,300 undergraduates at Wellesley College, 250 are on the mailing list for the campus Republicans; around 20 show up to weekly meetings. But four of them, along with eight women and three men from Harvard, packed onto a bus one recent morning and headed here to ring doorbells for the McCain-Palin campaign.
In every one of the 38 homes the students visited was someone who had been identified by the campaign as leaning Republican — a stark contrast with what they see on their campuses in Massachusetts, the bluest of the blue states.
“It’s great to see other people feel similarly to the way I do, that I’m not crazy,” said Jillian Cunningham, 20, co-president of the Wellesley Republicans.
What has energized the students, though, and particularly the young women, is Gov. Sarah Palin, in whom they see themselves.
“Seeing her speak at the convention was a moment I’m never going to forget,” said Alee Lockman, 20, vice president of the Harvard Republicans.
Jennifer Huddleston, a Wellesley senior, recalled that she screamed so loud in August when she heard that Senator John McCain had tapped Ms. Palin that her parents, University of North Alabama professors whom she called liberals, pulled off the road to see what was wrong.
Ms. Huddleston, 21, co-president of the Wellesley Republicans, said, “I mean, how cool to have a young woman on the ticket who’s doing exactly what I want to do when I grow up.”
Nathalie Snapp, 25, a doctoral candidate at Harvard, where she studies chemical physics, said: “I do very much identify with her as someone who has pursued having both a career and a family. I also really want both.” |
