Organization to rally against Rove’s policies
UPDATED: Feb. 16, 2012, 1:09 a.m. EST
CORRECTION: In the Feb. 15 article titled ‘Organization to rally against Rove’s policies,’ the Supreme Court’s role in Citizens United v FEC was misstated. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizens United.
In opposition to Karl Rove leadership over several super political action committees, the Syracuse University College Democrats will conduct a peaceful rally outside the Schine Student Center on Wednesday before his speech.
The rally will begin at 6 p.m. with a protest on the grassy area between Schine Student Center and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Participants will convene in the area with signage until 6:30 p.m., when College Democrats President Amy Snider and other community leaders will make a speech. The rally will last until 7 p.m.
Rove, the former deputy chief of staff to former President George W. Bush, was invited by the SU College Republicans to speak Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Goldstein Auditorium. Snider said although the liberal student group she represents is against Rove’s policies, she is glad the College Republicans are bringing him to campus.
‘This is a big deal. As much as we disagree with Mr. Rove’s policies, he is someone with a lot of knowledge we should be paying attention to regardless of his political affiliation,’ Snider said.
Snider said she decided to organize the rally after she was approached by various community leaders and activists following the news that Rove was coming to SU.
The College Democrats sent out a press release Tuesday titled ‘Many gather in opposition of Karl Rove’s visit to Syracuse.’ In the release, Snider wrote: ‘We will stand together against Karl Rove and the corporate takeover of America.’
The primary focus of this peaceful protest is to allow the College Democrats to voice their opinion against corporations in the political process and corporate money infiltrating America’s political system, Snider said. This is an appropriate venue for protest, as Rove is the leader of several of the country’s largest super PACs leading in these practices.
The top donors to Rove’s super PACs are some of the wealthiest individuals in the corporate world, according to a recent article in Forbes Magazine, Snider said.
‘This is a topic the liberal world is very upset about,’ Snider said.
Snider stressed the College Democrats are not protesting the presence of Rove himself, as it is his right to come to campus. She said the organization is always pleased when the College Republicans bring an influential figure to SU.
‘We are not protesting him, rather something he is involved in that we don’t feel positively about,’ Snider said. ‘We are protesting what he is involved in.’
The main issue the College Democrats have with Rove is that he supported the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC. The court ruled with Citizens United, which effectively spawned the creation of super PACs, groups that can take unlimited sums of money from corporations for independent political expenditures such as advertisements.
Though this is the first election cycle in which the super PACs are allowed to operate in this way, Snider said liberals are against the negative political advertising they are creating.
She said Rove is steering the direction of two super PACs operating in this way, one of which is in the top tier of super PACs making the most money.
Snider said approximately 50 people will be participating in the rally, and she encourages more students to join.
Published on February 14, 2012 at 12:00 pm
