Dartmouth Revs Up for Tonight's GOP Debate

Impact

The race is on for the 2012 Republican nomination. This is no more evident than in Hanover, N.H., the home of Dartmouth College. This normally quiet hamlet has been transformed almost overnight with an excitement that can only come from competitive electoral politics. On Tuesday, the students, professors, and administrators of Dartmouth (as well as various community members) will have the rare opportunity to witness the essence of our political process first hand. All eight of the major Republican candidates will take the stage to convince the GOP why they deserve to carry the banner which once supported Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and countless more.

While normally a politically left-leaning school, Dartmouth is almost universally excited and proud to be hosting this event. Daniel Bornstein, a Dartmouth sophomore and PolicyMic pundit, boasted how Dartmouth classmates will have a unique opportunity to learn from the candidates directly, saying, “The candidates will have no choice but to respond to students' concerns about issues ranging from the economy to foreign aid.” Tom Wilkes, a recent Dartmouth alumnus, exclaimed how “awesome it is to see how the debate has transformed many students to become more engaged in the primary race.”

Despite its geographic isolation, Dartmouth is an ideal location for any presidential primary debates. Its combination of excellent political science professors, informed and active student body, and the fact that we are in a hotly contested primary state are just a few excellent political attributes of this school. Lily Brown, a Dartmouth freshman, shared that she had a “certain level of pride for attending a school which lends itself directly to the democratic process every four years.”

No matter what happens on stage tonight, there is no doubt that Dartmouth is not only qualified to host this debate, but that the college is more than thrilled to welcome the media and candidates. It is our time to help facilitate the advancement of the flame of the democratic process, and we are ready to do so.

Photo Credit: IowaPolitics.com