I’ll be reporting throughout the day from Columbia University on what students there are doing to get out the vote, and campaign for their candidates.
With 281 delegates at stake, New York is the second-largest prize in the Super Tuesday lineup, and one that is incredibly important to Senator Clinton in her campaign for president. Columbia is part of the 15th congressional district in New York, which includes upper Manhattan and Harlem. The district is represented in Congress by Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel.
Currently, Clinton has a significant lead in New York state. According to RealClearPolitics.com, Clinton leads Obama 53.5 percent to 36.3 percent, a 17.2-point margin. Considering that Clinton is the senator from New York, this lead is to be expected.
Some background on the area surrounding Columbia:
Demographically, the 15th district was 31% black and 48% hispanic in 2000, a fact which will be important in this election because Obama has a significant lead with black voters nationally, while Clinton has a significant lead with hispanic voters nationally. This district has been predominantly Democratic since the 1930s, and in 2000 it was the most heavily democratic congressional district in the nation, with 90% voting for John Kerry and 9% for George W. Bush.
Since Pennsylvania’s primary isn’t until April 22nd, we can’t really judge how Super Tuesday affects college students here on Penn’s campus — going to Columbia will provide context for student involvement at another Ivy League school. Since the 2008 primaries, and the Democratic side in particular, have been affected greatly by youth involvement, reporting from Columbia is a way for the DP to accurately portray student involvement on Super Tuesday. Also, because New York is so ethnically diverse, the race should be interesting to follow in this district because it really could go either way — just like the rest of the counties and states voting on Super Tuesday.
Tags: Columbia, New York, Super Tuesday
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