There is a heated and intense campaign currently happening for the office of the President of the United States. It’s not Trump versus Harris, but the faceoff between personas Claire Bennett and Alyssa Lombardi-Jones of Bates College. Candidates are vying for the position, which will be decided by the Bates community as part of the mock election put on by the rhetoric department’s class, Presidential Campaign Rhetoric. 

This unique course transforms students into presidential candidates, speech writers, campaign managers, media and even candidates’ spouses to create and run a campus-wide campaign in which all students get to decide who should become ‘President’ of the United States. 

“In this class, the point is to hone student skills and see how hard it is to really connect with voters,” Professor of Rhetoric Stephanie Kelley-Romano said. The faceoff is set to be competitive and engage students. In this election, all Bates students are considered the voters. As voters, the student body has the opportunity to attend public events, follow the candidates’ campaigns on social media and eventually cast their vote to decide who will win the election. 

Since 1999, her first year at Bates, Kelley-Romano has been committed to finding interactive ways for her students to engage with her classes. After realizing that traditional seminars weren’t cutting it, citing that “the problem was that nobody wants to read speeches from dead people or speeches that are old,” Kelley-Romano was inspired to create an “intense interdisciplinary experience” that thrusts her students into an “intense nine-week group project.” 

The class is structured around two presidential campaigns in which students take on a variety of roles. Both Bennett and Lombardi-Jones are candidate aliases. The campaign platforms may resemble traditional party politics, but are not labeled as Democrat or Republican, in an effort to give voters a fresh perspective by avoiding polarization. Each year, the class focuses on four issues to highlight; this year, they are the environment, the economy, addiction and education. Campaigns will run ads, deal with crises and scandals, put on conventions, use social media, write speeches and attack each other’s platforms.

While the candidates are working hard to gain students’ vote, the media teams will be just as busy keeping students informed. Here students take on the persona of journalists and write from the main ideology of that person or campaign. These pieces are compiled by The Political Times. The media not only covers the campaign and candidates, but will also be providing plenty of non-partisan resources to voters, such as information on voter registration. 

Voters have the opportunity to look forward to and attend many events. Some of these are: 

• Presidential Debate: Oct. 7 at 1:15 p.m. in the Filene Room (301 Pettigrew) (livestream available)

• Vice Presidential Debate: Oct. 11 9:45 a.m. in the Filene Room (301 Pettigrew) 
• Inaugural Ball: Date TBD with music, food and more.

Election Day will be on Nov. 5. Voters can come to the Fireplace Lounge anytime from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to cast their votes. Voters will be asked who they want to vote for and also who they think ran the best campaign.  

Kelley-Romano would like to remind students to “be kind at all times” and that the campaigns do not reflect the views or beliefs of the students involved in them; instead, they are “engaging in activities about political rhetoric in order to find ways to make it better.” 

Furthermore, while the class is interactive, candidates are only in character when they are wearing their American Flag lapel pin. This is done in order to provide them space outside the class, but if their pin is on, “they very well may try to shake your hand.” 

 Voters can learn more about each candidate by visiting their prospective websites. To continue to stay updated on the latest election news, voters can follow @profskr on Instagram, check the PCR 2024 website and check their emails. This mock election is more than just a class project; it is a way for Bates students to actively engage with politics in an intimate way and participate in the discussion of politics on campus.