With the 2024 presidential election right around the corner, UW-Whitewater’s College Republicans and College Democrats clubs organized visits from Wisconsin Senators Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin.
Sen. Johnson spoke about relevant issues such as the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump among several other topics at an event on Monday, Oct. 7 at Upham Hall in Whitewater.
(Mikey Rottier)
For most Warhawks, this will be the first presidential election in which they are able to cast a vote, making it important for students to tune in.
Sen. Baldwin visited Whitewater’s campus on Tuesday, Oct. 1 and was accompanied by Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
According to UWW College Democrats Chairperson Evelyn Schmidt, Duckworth introduced Baldwin and explained how the two had worked together to a room of College Democrats members along with other Whitewater students.
“It really felt like an emotional event — for me at least – because we had so many people come up to us afterwards and say, ‘I can’t believe that I met such a historic person and that she was on our campus,’” Schmidt said.
Baldwin’s main points, Schmidt added, centered around reproductive freedom and healthcare, specifically, her opinion that everyone should have equitable access to universal healthcare.
Baldwin described her role as co-author and advocate for the Affordable Care Act, a bill that allows kids to stay on their parents’ health insurance until the age of 26.
Overall, Baldwin’s visit was a success, Schmidt said. Several students felt seen due to her presence because of her reputation as the first openly LGBTQ+ senator in the country.
“We had a lot of great feedback from campus,” Schmidt said. “That really was our goal, to show everybody that politics don’t have to be super messy and divisive, and she really spoke to that when she was speaking.”
The following week Sophia Fyfe, chairperson for the UWW College Republicans, hosted a talk with Sen. Johnson Monday, Oct. 7, in Upham Hall.
Johnson spoke about the country’s debt and how it is important for college-age citizens to be involved in politics and the goings on of the government.
“If I were you – at your age – I’d be pretty ticked off at people in my generation for having racked up more than 35 trillion dollars [of] debt, that we’re not going to have to pay off, but it’s going to harm you,” Johnson said.
He added that he would like to think “more young people would understand what past generations have done to burden [them] with that debt and start rallying against them.”
In his talk, Johnson made claims that the radical left has taken over important aspects of the United States such as the university system, public school systems and mainstream journalism. He said that college journalism programs are “graduating more advocates for the left than actual journalists.”
“College students and young people need to understand what’s happening,” Johnson said. “They need to have that level of education, and they just don’t get it from the legacy media. The legacy media is just not describing reality, they’re not telling people the truth. So, I’m trying to come here and let people know – as unuplifting as it is – this is the reality of the situation.”
Fyfe shared that she strongly believes it is important for the university to bring in political speakers. She added that the talks she has attended have been both informative and engaging and thinks there is more benefit to listening to a speaker who knows a lot about a topic as opposed to a discussion amongst peers who may not be as informed.
“Especially with it being an election season, it is just great for students to hear, and I know we had some people in the audience tonight who were of different opinions, and I think that is great because people should be exposed to as many different viewpoints as they can to form their own opinions,” Fyfe said. “I think it’s great we’re having speakers come from both sides. I love it.”
Johnson shared the same sentiment as Fyfe, saying that he feels it is extremely important to talk to and educate young people.
“I hope young people value freedom,” Johnson said. “We have now, for decades, listened to the siren song of government benefits and socialism. We’ve been willingly voting away our freedoms one at a time. Young people need to understand the essential ingredient to America is freedom … if we lose freedom … this marvelous experiment of democracy will fail.”
