By Heather Levinsky
Following presidential hopeful John Kasich's town hall meeting at Hofstra on Monday morning, many (okay, a couple) people were shocked at the lack of student turnout for the event.
"Yeah, I guess this isn't really as big a deal as the debate was in 2012" stated former student Annna Davis, referring to the major presidential debate which took place on Hofstra's campus a month before President Obama's re-election 4 years ago. "We really expected Hofstra to take it up a notch after that, but they took it down at least several notches."
Hofstra Debate 2012 was covered by major networks such as CNN, FOX News, Univision, and CBS. Today's town hall event focused on the major talking points of John Kasich, a candidate who is the human equivalent of a pile of dry mashed potatoes with a strong distaste for women and gays. But thankfully, not many students were there to notice.
"Yeah, we figured it was no big deal" said HU President Stuart Rabinowitz. "Nothing to worry the students about, nothing to skip class over." Many were surprised that the town hall wasn't held over common hour on Wednesday, a time when all students have a break from class so they can attend events or meetings.
Exactly one email was sent out to students to notify them of the event, which, to be fair, is about the amount of attention that Kasich deserves at this point in his career. However, many feel that there was not enough publicity surrounding what appeared to be a major political event.
When asked about the low turnout, campaign staffers smiled in relief.
"We were initially worried about the percentage of young, impressionable, liberal voters that we might encounter at a school founded on the principles of the liberal arts" said Blergh Ferghuson, a campaign staffer for Kasich. "But thankfully, the large sum we paid the school to not only quiet down the event, but also to bus in senior citizens by the thousands paid off quite well. John feels really good about how the event went."
When asked about the management of the event, HU President-in-Chief Stuart Rabinowitz, after a startled jump, resumed walking with his head down, pulling our reporter closer under the wing of his jacket. After dodging the rest of the unispan paparazzi, he responded exclusively to Nonsense.
"Yeah, I knew from the get-go that, with the exception of the 8 members of the Hofstra Republicans, the majority of the student body would either A. Hate Kasich immediately, or B. Have no idea who he is. Understandably, we thought it was for the best if we kept the town hall under wraps."
Insisting that he meant no offense to his long-time friend John, Rabinowitz continued in a hurried whisper. "Plus, going from immense media events like the 2012 and 2008 debates to something like this is just...embarrassing."
We caught up with Kasich in a local men's bathroom and asked him for his thoughts on the town hall.
"I just wish the student body had given me the chance to speak to them and change their minds, you feel me B?" Kasich lamented. With the New York primary election approaching, many candidates are becoming seemingly desperate to reach out to their constituents.
"Well, I guess I was right about young people; they're woefully uninformed, unapologetically lazy, and they're all bleeding heart liberals, for fleek's sake. But if I could say one thing to the younger side of the Hofstra fam, it's that they should know that I am the dabbing-est choice for the Republican candidacy, namsayin? I'm old, I'm bold, and I'm running for president. And I'm an honest man, as straight as they come; I would never pander or change my platform to win the youth vote. Deadass."