Why I won’t be voting for Newcomer

Jack Newcomer and Dan Stefan have gained a large amount of media coverage in their attempts to gain eligibility for President and Vice President of Vanderbilt Student Government.

Personally, I can’t say I disagree that these two (or anyone else) should be able to run as a write-in candidate. However, I disagree with the manner in which their campaign, or lack of campaign, has been conducted.

Newcomer, in a previous interview, stated that his platform is technically not a traditional campaign since he was declared ineligible.

However, it – whatever it is – is extremely unorganized. Let’s start with the beginning.

Newcomer’s original announcement of his intention to run for VSG President in the Class of 2019 official Facebook group

While we can all agree that VSG needs fixing, Newcomer’s approach to fix their so-called corruption is extremely murky.

I am a fan of Newcomer’s plan to make part of his campaign about inclusivity and improving the experience of international students.

Nevertheless, making his campaign slogan reminiscent of Donald Trump’s campaign is the wrong way to go about that. By adopting the slogan of a seemingly homophobic, Islamophobic, and racist presidential candidate, Newcomer is doing nothing but excluding the very people he claims he wants to reach out to.

He’s even gratefully acknowledged the support of controversial Vanderbilt staff member, Carol Swain, whose position at the university was petitioned against by many students in response to her inflammatory, anti-Islamic remarks.

Newcomer sharing Professor Swain’s show of support on Facebook.

The main idea he has based his entire campaign on has been that of a fresh mind cleansing a “corrupt” VSG. While having a fresh perspective is important, so is having leadership skills and experience of how the organization currently works.

There has been little experience cited, and no examples that prove Newcomer and Stefan have the skills to effectively run our entire student body. They have also failed to provide specific details to prove the feasibility of their ideas.

What we know of his platform so far from a previous article

Newcomer and Stefan’s well-publicized disagreement with VSG gave them the perfect platform to launch a revolutionary campaign. However, in my opinion, they’ve misused the opportunity – rather than using this to present legitimate reformatory policies to the student body, they have instead exhibited a rash sense of anger with little substance to back it up.

If they were elected, it’s possible that their righteous frustration with VSG would be rendered pretty insignificant, and they may not have the ideas and ability to actually execute positive change.

Maybe Newcomer should be allowed to run, but based on the information we have so far, I personally wouldn’t vote for him.