Tuesday, November 2 is Election Day. Pundits all over the country—and all over this campus—have been speculating and forecasting. Will the election be a referendum on President Obama? Is the Tea Party movement for real?
Americans are angry. Again. They're mad at unemployment and deficits and, most of all, they are really, really mad at politicians.
What are Americans going to do?
It seems as though American voters have found people who are as mad as they are (in both senses of the word), and they are going to hand over the House of Representatives and Senate seats to these political outsiders.
Let's pause here so I can quickly go out on a limb and predict the next two years in American politics.
2011: Congress is deadlocked. The biggest legislative battle is the judicial fight over the constitutionality of health care reform. The war in Afghanistan continues to be the war in Afghanistan, a major headache for the administration. Congressional Republicans talk a lot and do little.
2012: Campaign season again!
Now, I must admit that I have indulged my own bit of political punditry, but for good reason.
By virtue of our isolation and busy lives, we here in the Bowdoin bubble don't really get to experience the American political process as real or even pertinent. However, this election season we have the opportunity to exercise the franchise in a way that is both personal and prudent.
Alex Cornell du Houx is currently the representative to the Maine State Legislature from Brunswick's District 66. This district encompasses several parts of the Bowdoin campus, including Helmreich House, Burnett House, Howell House, Cleaveland Street Apartments and Stowe Inn. Cornell du Houx also happens to be an alumnus of Bowdoin College, a member of the Class of 2006. He is currently embroiled in a tough re-election fight, and I hope many of you that live in his district will seize the opportunity to vote for him this year.
Cornell du Houx is exactly the sort of candidate that both Mainers and Bowdoin students should be excited to send to Augusta. He grew up in the small town of Solon, Maine, making the most of the opportunities along his path from Bowdoin student to member of the Maine State Legislature. Cornell du Houx completed a nearly year-long tour of duty in Iraq as a Marine while a student at Bowdoin in 2006, thankfully returning safely to complete a degree in government and legal studies.
Representative Cornell du Houx spent his first term in the Maine State Legislature working diligently on veteran, educational and environmental issues. He is undoubtedly a qualified candidate, both savvy in politics and intelligently beholden to his values. Alex offers a unique combination of progressive ideals, small town upbringing and experience in the service that makes him especially capable of providing a vision for the future of Brunswick, and even the state of Maine.
For those of us at Bowdoin, however, Cornell du Houx provides a great deal more. He offers an example, connections and a perspective that to a great extent reflects many of our own.
I would by no means advocate for Bowdoin students to blindly support a candidate solely because he or she graduated from this school. That said, there is something to be said for being proud of—and having a stake in—the success of Bowdoin graduates. In the crudest sense, success encountered by graduates of this College makes a Bowdoin degree an even more valuable asset out in the world.
More importantly, it gives this institution and its members connections to the rest of the world. Cornell du Houx's success in public office and beyond means the permeation of the Bowdoin ethos into a political realm that sorely lacks the sort of values that brought most of us to this school.
This leads me to my final point. As a Bowdoin graduate, Alex will bring an outlook to Augusta that closely mirrors that of many at Bowdoin. He is sincerely devoted to the achievement of marriage equality in Maine, as are many of us. He understands what is at stake in the fight against global warming with regards to our national security, our economy and our environment. Likewise, many students at this College care deeply about retaining their capacity to make use of Maine's natural beauty and resources.
This election season has been, and is going to be, an ugly one. While I certainly hope that all of you pay attention to all the congressional races around this country, I want to impress upon you the unique opportunity we have to elect one of our own. Send Representative Alex Cornell du Houx back to the Maine State Legislature.
Judah Isseroff is the campaign manager for Alex Cornell du Houx and member of the Class of 2013.