Moseley Braun Draws Less Student Interest

Almost 1,600 clamored for Sen. John F. Kerry. Nearly 1,300 vied for Sen. John D. Edwards. But for U.N. Ambassador Carol E. Moseley Braun, who will take her turn at the JFK Jr. Forum Monday, a mere 546 threw their names in the hat.

Out of the five lotteries held so for tickets to “Hardball: Battle for the White House,” a Harvard-based series of presidential candidate interviews aired this fall on MSNBC, Moseley Braun has attracted the lowest number of participants.

Though Moseley Braun’s 546 exceeds the 450 seats available through the lottery, students and representatives of the Institute of Politics (IOP) say there is less interest in Moseley Braun’s visit because of her lower-profile status and her unimpressive polling numbers.

“The fact of the matter is Carol Moseley Braun is not viewed in the political circle as likely to be the nominee for president,” said IOP Director Daniel R. Glickman, who served as secretary of agriculture from 1995 to 2001.

“It’s not a hidden fact that Carol Moseley Braun is not as big a draw of a name, she is not as well known of a candidate,” said Harvard College Democrats President R. Gerard McGeary Jr. ’04.

McGeary noted that Kerry is a poll-leader and a local favorite and that the Rev. Al Sharpton—who garnered 1,038 lottery hopefuls—is a “great orator.”

Some students also said they are most interested in hearing from the candidates that are more likely to be their next commander-in-chief.

“It will be really good to hear [leading candidates’] views and see how they respond to the questions because they are going to be in the national spotlight more than someone like Moseley Braun,” said Morgan S. Brown ’06, who has lotteried for every single event so far.

Still others said the low turnout for Moseley Braun might reflect that students are beginning to suffer from “Hardball” fatigue.

Sloan J. Eddleston ’04, who co-chairs a committee charged with bringing speakers to Kirkland House, pointed out that Moseley Braun is the 5th candidate to visit Harvard this semester, detracting from the novelty.

But leader of “Students for Moseley Braun” Ryan P. McAuliffe ’03 said yesterday he believes the lower interest level is the result of an even bigger problem.

“People are not respecting Moseley Braun’s presidential candidacy and giving it the time and the respect that it certainly deserves,” he said.

McAuliffe said he is concerned about Moseley Braun’s profile here on campus.

“There isn’t as much hype...and that’s what students are trying to change,” he said. “It is a matter of making people wake up and see her campaign as a legitimate campaign for presidency.”

McAuliffe also said he thinks gender may be affecting Moseley Braun’s popularity.

“The populous of the U.S. has a hard time imagining someone as president that isn’t a white male,” he said.

But Eddleston suggested that the fact that Moseley Braun is the only woman in the race adds to her appeal, if anything.

“I would like to think that the students are balanced enough and would vote regardless of the sex or race of the person,” he said.

Indeed the Moseley Braun campaign isn’t fretting about interest in the candidate—or the Harvard event.

A campaign spokesperson said the numbers are “not an indication of anything.” He suggested that students possibly had given up on entering the lottery but said he could not speculate further.

“If I could predict the behavior of college students I’d be a rich man right now. I don’t have any reason why,” the spokesperson said.

And event organizers at the IOP are equally confident they’ll be able to find warm bodies to fill the roughly 800-seat capacity forum.

The 350 tickets not used in the IOP lottery are automatically set aside for student political and community groups like the Harvard College Democrats and the Harvard Republican Club, IOP affiliates, related Harvard faculty and staff, campaign officials and the media, according to IOP Director of Communications Andy I. Solomon.

McGeary said that among the Dems, there is a “good showing of interest” with more than 100 members competing for the 60 available tickets.

“We are confident she will have a sizable and excited audience as every other candidate of the ‘Hardball’ series has enjoyed,” said Solomon.

And a number of Harvard students are still eagerly awaiting the chance to hear a presidential hopeful speak, whoever it may be.

While Brown said he’s more excited for the upcoming visits of former Vt. Gov. Howard Dean and retired Gen. Wesley Clark, he’s still looking forward to seeing Moseley Braun—assuming he snags a ticket.

“I’m just ecstatic to see any Democratic candidate speak,” Brown said. “It’s a cool opportunity. I don’t know much about Moseley Braun and it will be good to find out more.”

Up Next

Despite the low interest in Mosely Braun’s appearance, the enthusiasm for prospective campus visits by Democratic presidential candidates remains strong.

Negotiations with Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., are in the works and a visit from Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, D-Ohio, is also on the horizon.

Kucinich declined to appear on “Hardball,” criticizing what he called host Chris Matthews’ conservative agenda. But while he had tentative plans to visit Kirkland earlier this month, the College Dems cancelled the event due to several conflicitng events which they feared may have caused sparse attendance.

“You don’t want to sacrifice attendance at one event because you did too many events that week,” McGeary said.

He also mentioned that Kucinich, like Moseley Braun, is less of a high-profile candidate and feared that an overload of conflicts that weekend would have resulted in sparse attendance.

The Harvard College Democrats are still working to reschedule with Kucinich, said McGeary.

Yet unlike Kucinich’s flat-out refusal to be on Hardball, Lieberman has not said no. According to Glickman, the IOP is still working out the logistics of accommodating Lieberman’s schedule, though no dates have been confirmed.

“He is a close personal friend of mine, and I would like him to be here very much, but it is a logistics matter. We are still working on it,” Glickman said. “He is an extraordinarily decent person and I would like to get him here and I think he would like to come.”

The next two candidates that are booked and confirmed are Dean and Clark, who will speak on Dec. 1 and Dec. 8, respectively. The lottery for tickets to hear Dean speak starts today, earlier than anticipated due to the holiday.

While Clark and Dean’s visits will mark the last confirmed dates, all nine of the democratic presidential candidates have been asked to participate, said Solomon.

—Staff writer Faryl W. Ury can be reached at ury@fas.harvard.edu.