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Evoking the Republican boogeyman

Anti-conservative sentiment in student election

By Andrew R Quinio
Posted on 04/04/07

What scares UC Berkeley students more than global warming? A registered Republican.

            Just in case you forgot how unwelcome conservatives are at UC Berkeley, the current Associated Students of the University of California election is offering another sad reminder of our campus’ political intolerance. External affairs vice presidential candidate Dwight Asuncion, a third-year engineering student, has become the latest victim of the left’s ideological persecution.

            Fliers that crudely attack Asuncion’s political affiliation have been anonymously posted in several classrooms around campus. They include excerpts from an online Patriot article written by Asuncion in which he describes his experiences at President George W. Bush’s second inauguration. Sentences in which Asuncion praises the president are highlighted in bold, and portraits of both individuals are prominently juxtaposed. The fliers come in a variety of headings, with one reading, “You didn’t vote for one Dimwit … so why would you vote for this DimWIGHT,” and another reading, “Incompetent!!!”

To most people, Asuncion’s affiliation would seem harmless. But this is the People’s Republic of Berkeley, where believing in tax cuts automatically makes you a “fascist.”

Questioning a person’s political beliefs should certainly not be frowned upon. Rather than examining the merits of Asuncion’s plans for the EAVP office, though, his critics are going after a few kind words he had about our president. Having such a litmus test for student-government aspirants is outrageous, especially at the nation’s top public university. One would hope that the preposterous attacks on Asuncion’s intelligence aren’t enough to fool the student voters.

What is most upsetting about the attack ads is the ease with which Asuncion’s critics can use conservatism to freak out the Berkeley student body. They seem confident enough in Berkeley’s political narrow-mindedness to influence the election with a simple flier featuring Bush’s face. If that is all it takes to deny Asuncion an election victory, our classmates can never again use the words ‘tolerant’ and ‘inclusive’ to describe themselves.

            Hopefully, the assumptions of Asuncion’s critics are wrong. Instead of exploiting the prejudices of voters, the fliers might actually encourage the campus to try to understand conservative ideology. We will have to wait until after the election to see if our classmates made the intellectually honest choice.

Editor’s Note:  Dwight Asuncion contributed to the California Patriot for several months in 2005.  He is no longer a staff writer for the Patriot.

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