Published on: Friday, December 11, 2009

By Eva Steinhorn, Special to The Sentinel

Maryland Senate president and University of Maryland College Park alumnus Mike Miller visited the university last Wednesday to encourage students to vote in the gubernatorial elections next November.

Younger voters entered polling places in packs last year to vote for President Barack Obama, why can’t the strong voter turnout seen during the presidential election from the younger population be present in all political elections?

Miller focused his talk on the importance of young voters and the effect they can have on politics. With almost two-and-a-half times more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state within the ages of 18 to 24, he stressed that with the support and help from young voters, the Democrats should be able to regain control of the state legislature and the position of governor.

“It’s easy to get someone to register, but to get them to vote is something else,” Miller explained.

Caroline Cabe, a junior sociology major at the university, who attended the session, felt Miller’s speech accomplished all of his main goals. “I think it was successful in that it did encourage everyone to vote next year; I never realized how important the off-year elections are.”

Although invited by the College of Democrats to encourage students to participate in the 2010 elections, Miller did not center his entire speech on voting and the election. Making students laugh, he told stories about his long-term friendship with former President Bill Clinton and his feelings on the Terrapins’ recruiting strategies, at one point explaining, “You can’t beat somebody with nobody,” causing quite a stir among audience members.

Along with his brief speech, which hopefully influenced the young voters to come out for the next election in November, he answered questions submitted by members of the audience, including College Park City Councilman and University of Maryland graduate student Marcus Afzali and state Del. Barbara Frush (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel).

When asked about the possibility of passing a same-sex marriage bill in Maryland, Miller seemed skeptical and said he does not believe the bill would pass anytime soon, that is if it ever obtained enough votes within the General Assembly to be put onto a referendum for state voters, an idea that Miller finds highly unlikely. Miller is opposed to civil marriages because of religious and moral reasons.

One of the only times Miller mentioned gay rights, College Democrats President Amy Hartman, a senior government and politics and women’s studies major at the university, wishes he had chosen to focus more on gay rights, seeing as how he as a different view than most Democrats. “He’s just a little more conservative than we are,” Hartman said.

Miller ended his speech by empowering students to act, painting a dark picture if younger voters do not take advantage of the strong voices they can have in the community. Encourage your friends to vote, he stressed. The younger population has finally been noticed as having a strong political impact, and thus it is important for them to start using their right to vote, whether it is for president or any other election.