Students for McCain discussed ways to improve their candidate’s campaign at the University of Wisconsin as they kicked off their fall campaign Friday.  

Approximately 35 students gathered in the Humanities building, some wearing navy McCain T-shirts and others clutching signs reading “Country First” and “Reform, Prosperity, Peace,” demonstrating their support for the Republican nominee.

Students in attendance were encouraged to join a committee and to show their support for McCain around campus.

UW senior Katie Nix, one of the co-chairs of Students for McCain, said committee leaders plan on holding town hall meetings weekly to discuss issues pertinent to the McCain campaign.

“We’re going to pick an issue and present it in as many ways as possible,” Nix said. “Hopefully we can get a professor there to present the issue, and then we’ll have an open discussion Q and A [session].”

The meetings aim to help people understand the issues, Nix said, as she recommended students to invite their “undecided friends.”

Other committees include event organizing and going green.

UW senior and Students for McCain Co-Chair Dan Hoefs said the “going green” committee is important because many people do not realize many of McCain’s policies are environmentally conscious. Hoefs said many UW students believe the environment is only important to Democrats, but stressed the importance of letting others know McCain is “very environmentally-savvy.”

“We’re going to get together and wear McCain shirts or buttons, and pick up trash around Library Mall just to show that we also care about the environment,” Hoefs said.

Students for McCain also discussed plans for hosting an environmental “power hour” as another tactic to help improve McCain’s image regarding environmental policy.

“Power hour” would consist of choosing one hour each week where Students for McCain would encourage UW students to turn off their lights to aid in energy conservation, according to Allison Nelson, Students for McCain co-chair.

Mark Bednar, Students for McCain co-chair, also gave attendees the option for grassroots volunteering by making telephone calls to constituents.

“It’s nitty-gritty volunteering,” Bednar said. “It’s been shown that when you make calls and when you sort of talk over issues to get their opinion they really appreciate it.”

Nix said she hopes Students for McCain can help make sure students are informed before casting their vote this November.

“We just want people to know both sides,” Nix said. “We really obviously ultimately want to change minds and bring people toward McCain, but ultimately the goal is just to make sure people understand him.”

Nix added she was happy with the meeting’s turnout, adding Students for McCain currently has a mailing list of more than 300 UW students.

Despite living in an overwhelmingly Democratic area, Nix said she is, for the most part, pleased with how Students for McCain are perceived on campus.

“Originally I was expecting to receive a lot more negativity,” Nix said. “So far I think the tone is a lot more accepting toward McCain than it was … for Bush in 2004. I think the McCain supporters are really excited.”