Of the 37 Trustees who didn't have to take the Jesuits' pesky vow of poverty, 22 have already picked sides in this year's election. The trustees seem to be regionally loyal, with Connecticut's Dodd and Massachusetts' Mitt Romney leading the way, while national fundraising leader Hillary Clinton has snagged a lone $250 donation. In perhaps a sign of the democratic times, the trustees have already given more than they did during the entire 2004 campaign.
But some of the trustees seem to have mixed loyalties. Peter Bell, BC '86, and partner at Highland Capital Partners, has given the maximum donation to both Obama the Democrat and Romney the Republican. Robert Kraft has given to both Romney and John McCain under the auspices of his Kraft Group, but in 1998 he listed himself as owner of the New England Patriots and gave a whopping $15,000 to the Democratic National Committee.
And then there's Patrick Stokes, BC Trustee and CEO of Anheuser-Busch, who gave $2,000 to the Senate campaign of, wait for it, Pete Coors. Who knew the King of Beers was so democratic?
The idea that money votes is nothing new, and members of the BC community are slowly starting to do their voting in $250 increments. But it's a small, elite crop that donates to campaigns - and few of that crop are students.
So are students powerless in this equation? Not necessarily. Nearly all of the major campaigns (even Ron Paul's) have student representatives on campus. Six students in the McCain campaign paid their own way up to New Hampshire to canvass for the candidate earlier this month. The Obama campaign already has a massive Facebook group, 20 to 30 active members according to the campaign, and plans for New Hampshire sojourns of its own. Nearly every campaign plans a trip up north at some point.
Only two BC undergraduates have given to a presidential candidate in the past two elections. So until you land that investment banking gig, old-fashioned doorbell ringing and new-fangled Facebook friending will be the electoral battleground for most undergrads.
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