From the moment it started, True Blue has sought to be a student coalition dedicated to “making student government matter” on the U of O campus. However, that doesn’t just mean changing the ASUO once we’re elected – it means changing the very way people run for office.
We know what ASUO election season means for most people. Each year, groups of students start forming to defend one side or another in the debate over services on campus and the student fees that pay them. Often, those groups try to raise as much money as possible (much of it from off-campus sources) to pay for all kinds of expensive advertisements, shirts, food, and buttons to hand out to students or show off around campus. They tailor their message to a couple of key constituent groups, lots of different campaign material is handed out, some grievances are filed, and eventually a handful of students are elected to positions within the ASUO by the small percentage of people who decide to vote.
We believe that campaigns can, and should, do better than that. Rather than trying to spend as much money as possible or concentrating on what campaign paraphernalia we can hand out, the folks that make up True Blue decided to try to campaign another way: By working as hard as possible, by drawing on the enthusiasm and energy of students, and by finding new and innovative ways to communicate our platform to students while finding out what THEY want to see from the ASUO.
We decided that the first big change would be to strictly follow a self-imposed spending cap of $2009 for all of True Blue’s campaign activities for all 21 candidates in our coalition. In other words, we’re spending less than $100 per candidate to get our message out to voters. ASUO Elections should be about who has the best plan, and who can best communicate those ideas to students – not about who can round up the most cash and outspend their opponents on campaign materials or promotions.
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