The lawn of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity was bordered with brightly colored Democratic campaign signs Friday, setting the stage for a rally with state Rep. Scott Conklin and U.S. Congressional candidate Mark McCracken.
The candidates waited as the lawn swelled to a crowd of about 50. Three Centre County Democratic Committee volunteers swayed to the sounds of local band Juno Bay, which opened and closed the rally, as they helped students register to vote.
McCracken said the election has been an uphill battle because it has been 30 years since a Democrat has held the 5th Congressional District seat. McCracken is running against Republican Glenn "GT" Thompson and Libertarian James Fryman to replace Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa.
McCracken has been the Clearfield County Commissioner since 2004 and said he decided to run for Congress when he saw an opportunity to step up and offer the 5th district a choice from the county commissioner level of experience.
Conklin, D-Centre, took the stage throwing Barack Obama buttons into the crowd.
Conklin spoke about his support for McCracken and how this election will make history.
"How many times in your life do you witness a historical election like this? People like McCracken and Obama, when you look at them, they shouldn't be in politics because they are not for any political machine. They appeal to the masses," Conklin said.
Justin Braz, McCracken campaign coordinator for State College, organized the rally because he wanted to bring McCracken's message to students. Braz (senior-sociology) said this election could be the first time State College has the power to elect a congressman.
"I wanted to get Mark's message out there because Mark is right on every issue," he said.
After Conklin's brief speech, McCracken took the stage.
"This is the young peoples' election. It's their time to change this country and not only can they start at the top of the ticket but also down ballot with this congressional race," he said.
McCracken received several cheers from the crowd as he explained his policies on the war, global warming, health care and the economy and job availability across the commonwealth.
"The idea is to build enthusiasm and our main goal was to get some new voters registered here today. The idea is to talk to a group and hopefully they're going to go out and spread the message," McCracken said.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, 200 E. Beaver Ave., doesn't have any connection to the McCracken campaign, but the house was a prime spot to hold the rally, said Braz, a member of the fraternity.
"I walked around in the audience afterwards and there were 20 people who came up to me and said, 'You know what, I wasn't going to vote for Mark but now I am.' So 20 of those, that makes me happy," Braz said.
