NYU

Sam Graham-Felsen, who covers the youth movement beat for The Nation, was on the ground at yesterday's NYU protest. Watch his video report or read his thoughts on the day - which echo my own - here on The Nation's blog.

UPDATE - I’m collecting stories from College Democrats for anecdotes to include in my book and to inform my views about the organization, which I did not participate in while I was an undergrad (lo those many years ago). I’m collecting those responses over at Daily Kos, or feel free to email me directly with your personal experiences with the college dems. I want to know:

• Why you did (or did not) participate in the college democrats,
• Whether or not they were effective in your area (be specific), and
• Finally I want to know how you think College Democrats could be improved as an organization.

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As per usual, College Republicans, this time at NYU, have come up with a controversial activity to bump up their visibility and promote one of their issues. Outrage du jour is an illegal immigrant hunt on campus. Kinda reminiscent of Monty Python’s Olympic Hide and Seek final, but a little racist and xenophobic.

NYU Progressives are responding by organizing a counter protest via FaceBook.

I don’t want to beat an old horse here - I’ve criticized college dems a lot - so let me just pose some questions (and I’m genuinely looking for answers). In particular I would love to hear from you if you are a college democrat reading this site:

1. Is this a lose-lose situation for the college dems? Won’t anything we do just give the College Republicans more press and increase the effectiveness of their action?
2. Is that a good enough reason to NOT protest?
3. Why do we always seem to be playing defense? How come the only time I hear about College Democrats is when they are responding to College Republicans? Why don’t I ever hear about Republican responses to College Dem operations?
4. It’s interesting that the College Dems organized via FaceBook, but not the College Republicans. Maybe it really is true that left-leaning folks use social networking more (or more effectively for political ends). Agree or disagree?