Most black voters are standing behind Barack Obama in this election, statistics show. Bobby Bennett just hopes they are looking at the issues at hand, not just the color of Obama’s skin.

As Election Day approaches, Norfolk State University senior Bobby Bennett is defying the odds of other historically black colleges.

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John McCain

“Being a political science major at a public school, I want to show bipartisanship on campus,” said Bennett. “I just want to give a voice to people with moderate or conservative views.”

Currently in its grass roots stages, the Young Republicans Club has been a recognized establishment, but saw little activity and eventually faltered out.

That is, until Bennett came along, the face and new president of the club.

With the help of Student Activities, the president held high hopes for an enthusiastic turnout at their first meeting on Oct. 9. Bennett said no one showed up to join, but the five current members went along with the meeting as planned.

“We have five active members so far, but we’re looking for at least ten to fifteen,” Bennett said.

The president candidly admitted that while the club does not have an updated mission statement, they represent equal balance in politics, an element lost here on [a historically black] campus with many students showing massive support for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

“One of my biggest things is fairness. I feel that John McCain and Governor Palin have their own stories to tell and in all fairness we owe them the chance to have their sides of the story heard here on campus. I just want to get that word out,” Bennett said.

Following the Civil War and the enactment of the Fifteenth Amendment, blacks initially aligned themselves with the Republican Party, which presented itself as the anti-slavery party. However, Franklin D. Roosevelt soon recruited a large percentage of the black (as well as white) population into the Democratic Party through his New Deal legislation.

As for future plans for NSU’s Republican Club, Bennett said he plans to participate in a mock debate set for Oct. 29, in conjunction with Young Democrats Club and the Political Science Department.

He’s trying to get the word out by posting fliers and making announcements during his classes.

Also, later in the semester, both clubs want to jointly host an exposition for both parties.

“We’re going to have tables set up for both clubs to offer students unbiased information about both of the parties,” said Bennett.

With Republicans being the party minority at NSU, curiosity has naturally arisen regarding Bennett’s political ideology.

Nonetheless, he has no problem responding to such inquiries.

“People who vote Democrat face a catch-22 because beginning our career, we hope to be within that upper one percent of rich people that are often represented by Republicans. We end up having to ask ourselves do we vote for the candidate whose policies support ours or the struggling person we used to be?”

Bennett said he’s voting for McCain mostly because of his experience with foreign policy and national security.

“We need experience in Washington to get the job done right away,” he said. “We need leadership in the White House to pull us together and put us on the right track,” Bennett said. “Republicans are more capable of handling national security.”

He pointed out that Both of the Bushes and Reagan were all in presidency during a war. “They know how to handle foreign policy,” he said.

However, being a political party minority has no bearings on Bennett’s beliefs.

“I’m not voting based off color, I’m voting based on experience.”

Danielle Coley and Jaedda Armstrong write for The Spartan Echo, the Norfolk State University student newspaper, which originally published a version of this article.