Romney Bus rolls through campus
The blue-and-white Mitt Romney campaign bus made a stop on campus Wednesday morning, equipped with almost everything but the presidential nominee himself.
It’s actually one of five touring buses traveling around the country now, according to Cory Drumright, state director for the victory operations. The bus was on a three day tour of Utah that included stops at different campaign headquarters. Romney’s Logan office, which was the fourth stop for the bus, officially opened earlier this month.
“Romney and Congressman Ryan actually use these buses with their families,” Drumright said. “When they’re on there, it’s considered a mobile campaign headquarters. The campaign doesn’t even skip a beat.”
Although Drumright said Romney already has the Utah vote, the purpose of the bus is to encourage people to volunteer and make calls in “battleground” states.
“It’s going to take a strong grassroots effort to propel us to victory,” he said.
The College Republicans were present at the event, helping people sign up to volunteer and register to vote. Amber Johnson, the field director for Mitt Romney’s Logan office, said the campaign office draws strongly from the university.
“All of my interns and most of my volunteers are College Republicans,” she said.
Jashon Bishop, a intern for his father, congressman Rob Bishop, was representing the College Republicans at the bus. He was helping students register to vote, while encouraging them to help with Bishop’s campaign.
“The bus is a draw to get students there,” he said, pointing to the voter registration table. “Whether they’re Republican or Democrat, it’s a good draw to get them to see what’s going on on campus.”
While the College Republicans collected more than 100 volunteer signatures, Students for Liberty President Justin Jerez was at the even holding anti-Romney signs. He said he started near the back bumper of the bus, but a police officer made him move about 10 feet away to the grass, citing the sidewalk area around the bus as reserved.
Jerez said students need to realize they have the option to vote for third-party candidates.
“A lot of people feel like there’s little choice in the election, it’s either Obama or Romney,” he said. “I think there needs be a little dissenting opinion. In particular I have a few qualms about Romney I feel are important to talk about.”
He said Students for Liberty has seen a major uptick in interest this year. Twice as many people showed interested in the group’s booth at Day on the Quad, he said. He believes this is a representation of a growing movement across the county.
He said the third party vote will grow this year.
“It’s going to happen in this election, simply as a protest to the Republican establishment,” he said.
-allee.evensen@aggiemail.usu.edu