It was supposed to be an issues-driven campaign; now the only issue that exists is that there aren’t any. But did anyone know what Hutchinson Williams ’08 or Frank Fraoili ’08 stood for anyway?
Look at last year for example; Williams mopped the floor with Ryan Neubauer ’07, stampeding him by 508 votes.
At least Neubauer showed up.
Regardless, to say that last year was not a popularity contest would be more ludicrous than the assertion that FUSA is a commanding power.
This year would have been no different; Williams would have blown past Fraoili in the election. Of course, we will never know for sure.
Fraoili was the type of candidate who could have possibly changed the way most people think. He is outspoken with good ideas, but instead of challenging Williams, he dropped out.
Fraoili would have had a difficult road ahead of him to make himself more popular than Williams, who is the most well-known person on campus. Had he tried, maybe he could have changed a few minds.
There have been plenty of popular presidents in American history, but someone always tried to challenge them. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president four times in a row, but he always had an opponent. It is sad that no one has the guts to stand up and try to stop Williams from winning.
Even if you know you’re going to lose, it’s better than not running.
Fraoili should not have dropped out just because of a knee injury. He was the only person in the school willing to challenge Williams, but a twisted knee will keep him from running.
Roosevelt ran for president with polio, and Fraoili could have still run with a twisted knee.
Maybe it was just too steep of a hill to climb for Fraoili with Williams’ popularity too much for him to overcome. Maybe he knew that he had no chance to win and decided to drop out.
The issues that are so important to both candidates are barely that. Is unity on campus that much of an issue? Is it really something that everyone cares about? Not really. It would be nice to have a unified campus, with everyone coming together for basketball games, Spam Jam and concerts, but it takes more than one person to put events together.
An issue should be something that everyone is talking about, something that is the hot topic on campus. But I don’t think issues ever really matter in school elections. It’s not like there is something major for candidates to support, like war or taxes. You won’t hear many people sitting down to dinner in Barone and discussing how the community needs to be more together.
It may be an issue for some, mainly those who are in FUSA or the few who care about FUSA’s actions. For most, the biggest issue on their mind is whether or not what they are eating is really chicken or where they will be drinking that night.
Give us candidates who promise free beer for their voters and only then will you see the biggest landslide in school history.
It’s like the episode of “Saved by the Bell,” when Zack beats Jessie for school president because he’s more popular. All school elections from elementary school to high school to college are just popularity contests.
While the candidates may have few issues to choose from and I’m sure the ones they are standing for are really important, they will have good things to give back to the school if they win. Unfortunately most of the voters don’t care.
When I enter the voting booth, I won’t remember anything that any of the candidates have said; I’ll recognize some names and vote for those people. That’s the way most students vote.
I even know a few guys who voted for certain freshmen females during the fall elections simply because they were attractive. Nobody really cares about who represents them in FUSA, so they vote for who they know and who they like.
That will never change, especially when people are scared to even try to run.
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