Since Barack Obama’s win in last November’s presidential election, the Republican Party has had some trouble finding an identity and attracting new members.
But fallout from the presidential election hasn’t been limited to the national Republican Party. Conservative student groups have also been feeling the effects of the nation’s shift in power.
Since the election, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College Republicans have seen a decrease in interest and membership, said Caroline Swift, a junior Spanish major and president of the College Republicans.
“What happened around the election is everything was really controversial, and we had a lot more members,” Swift said. “The moment after the Republicans lost the election we saw a sharp drop in numbers.”
The loss in memberships has made it difficult for the College Republicans to arrange events around campus, said Kimberly Clawson, a junior psychology major and the group’s vice president, which in turn has made finding new members tough.
“People don’t care as much, and they don’t see that there’s anything they can do, so they don’t do anything,” Clawson said.
But the abundance of Democratic wins in key races during the election isn’t the only reason for the College Republicans drop in membership, Swift said. A general lack of student interest in politics following the election has also been a problem.
During the election, Swift said both the College Republicans and Young Democrats saw a surge in interest and membership. But once the immediacy and excitement of the election disappeared, many of the groups’ new members vanished, too.
“There was a lot of hype during the election, and that’s kind of dwindled, and we saw a loss of general interest in politics on both sides,” Swift said.
Swift said the College Republicans have been working to regain the membership and momentum they had around the election. In the spring, the group held a screening of “33 Minutes,” a documentary about American missile defense, where they signed up a number of new members.
The group plans on holding more film screenings in the fall, Swift said, and they hope to have a prominent conservative speaker come to campus sometime soon.
“We’re trying to get the word out to the greater community and campus,” she said.
Even with the next presidential election years away, Clawson said campus political groups have an important role in providing students with a place to voice their opinions.
“It’s not just about elections,” Clawson said. “It’s about making people aware of the issues.”
adamziegler@dailynebraskan.com
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