At a speech in the Bryan Center's Von Canon Room Thursday, Jim Neal, a North Carolina Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, encouraged students to use their voting power to make change in America.
Neal, who hopes to unseat Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole, Woman's College '58, in the 2008 Senate elections, said Dartmouth University students who came out in record numbers for the New Hampshire primary set the stage for the younger generation's involvement in this year's elections.
"There's nothing supernatural or extraordinary about Jim Neal," he told approximately 30 listeners. "I am one voice, and I am only as loud as the voices behind me."
The Duke Democrats sponsored the event, and President Samiron Ray, a sophomore, said a major reason the group wanted to bring Neal to campus was to educate the student body.
"At such a critical point in our nation's history, we want to inform the University on all the campaigns," Ray said.
Neal, who has a background in investment banking, business and campaign management, has been criticized for his lack of experience in public office.
But he said that is a good thing.
"Voters have become very disenchanted with the failure of elected officials," Neal said. "The Senate has become a millionaires' club."
He added that his greatest strength is that he is not bound to partisan or elite interests.
"I've been a millionaire-I've stood in the unemployment line. I've experienced a lot of different viewpoints," Neal said.
Sophomore Andrew Zonderman said hearing from a candidate who was willing to talk casually with students was encouraging.
"He's a candidate that is not completely polished-he still has some edges," he said.
But Zonderman said he wished Neal could have given his views on the Employee Fair Choice Act, a bill that would allow workers more flexibility in organizing unions. Though Zonderman brought up the act, Neal said he wasn't familiar enough with it to comment.
Neal said going out and listening to voters and running a transparent campaign is his main strategy. He has been open about the fact that he is gay, and he said it won't affect his chances of being elected or his ability to serve in public office.
"He isn't just a politician who wants to make a stump speech," Ray said. "He has a solid grasp of the issues."
Joe Gavrilovich, field director for Neal's campaign, said he decided get involved because of Neal's knowledge of political issues.
"It's not about whether you are gay, straight, black, white, male, female-it's about where you are on the issues."
Neal said he has always planned to run for public office, but that as a single parent, that wasn't previously possible.
"My sons' interests always came first," he said. "But they gave me the green light."
Although not every student who attended the speech was a supporter, as the audience filed out of the room, Zonderman said he was impressed by Neal's performance.
"I think he has at least a good chance-better than I gave him before hearing him speak," he noted.
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