President Barack Obama on Saturday traveled to Massachusetts in support of Gov. Deval Patrick's (D) reelection campaign Saturday.
Obama spoke to a crowd of over 15,000 in an effort to energize the Democratic base ahead of the Nov. 2 gubernatorial election. The Tufts Democrats sent approximately 35 students to the all-day event at the Hynes Convention Center, according to Tufts Democrats President Seth Rau, a junior.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Congressman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) also spoke at the rally, which featured live musical performances by James Taylor and other artists.
Obama took the stage last, crediting the Patrick administration with Massachusetts' high national rankings on both education and healthcare.
Obama was not slated to speak until 3:30 p.m., but coordinators from the Patrick campaign, anticipating a crowd, had instructed attendees to arrive well in advance. The Tufts Democrats delegation left around 9:00 a.m. from campus, according to Rau.
Recent polls have shown Patrick and his Republican opponent Charlie Baker in a statistical tie, with some data pointing to a slight edge for Baker and a clear gap in enthusiasm between Republicans and Democrats.
Rau said the rally sought to address this enthusiasm gap. He emphasized the importance of student involvement in the campaign within the next few weeks.
"It's not going to sway very many votes directly. … The reason they're having this rally is because there's an enthusiasm gap," Rau said. "The real boom is [if] we can get the volunteers from the Obama campaign again to say, ‘Oh, we really need to volunteer again ...' so it's really about firing up the base."
Senior Josh Friedmann, who co-chairs Tufts Students for Deval Patrick, said Obama is the right person to motivate the Democratic base.
"One of the reasons we're really excited for this, and the reason why the president is here, is because what it will come down to on election day is how many folks appreciate [Patrick] and what he's doing and really realize that it's important," Friedmann said. "So we're hoping that the president's speaking abilities and big draw will help galvanize the people."
Both Friedmann and Rau said that despite nationwide trends, the level of involvement has remained high at Tufts.
Tufts Students for Deval Patrick has organized voter registration drives and tabled in the dining halls in support of the governor, registering 257 students to vote, according to Rau. With the voter registration deadline now passed, the group plans to transition to phone banking.
During the speech, chants from protesters dissatisfied with the president's funding for HIV/AIDS research interrupted his speech twice but were drowned out by supporters.
Phil Hoffman, a freshman who attended the rally, said he became interested when the Tufts Democrats sent out an e-mail with Obama's name in the subject line.
"The wait was a little bit long, but I think it was still worth it," Hoffman said. "I went in there knowing that Obama was going to be a good speaker, but I was really, really impressed with Deval Patrick."
Friedmann offered a similar assessment of the governor.
"Based on my experience, people at Tufts are incredibly excited about Deval Patrick," Friedmann said. "Governor Patrick is a champion of our system. … That's why Tufts, and [its] forward-looking student body, is really behind it."
On the same day, the Massachusetts Alliance of College Republicans hosted Baker and Senator Scott Brown at its fall convention at Boston College, according to Rau.
