PRINTPolitical partitioning
Mitch Erdel and Sam Hargadine are back again
Heather McGuire
A lot can happen in four years. Sam Hagardine has transformed himself from the 17-year-old president of the Rock Bridge High School Young Democrats and Kerry campaign volunteer to an MU student interning at Republican Lt. Governor Peter Kinder's office.
May 15, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
When Vox interviewed him in fall 2004, Rock Bridge High School Young Republicans founder and president Robert “Mitchell” Erdel was crazy for conservatism.
Not only did the 18-year-old hold strong convictions, his room was swamped with enough George W. Bush mementos to fill a presidential library, including a life-size cutout. He even recorded every single one of his hero’s speeches.
Oct. 28, 2004, "Extracurricular Activists"
Four years later, Bush could use Erdel’s enthusiasm. A junior studying history and political science at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., Erdel is president again, but this time for his fraternity.
Like Bush, Erdel faces an expensive reconstruction project: the $3.5 million construction of a new frat house. At least Erdel’s project has the support of its investors.
He knows all too well how the American political landscape has turned since his high school days, after he worked in Washington, D.C., as an intern to U.S. Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson during summer 2006.
“I sensed the Republican beat down coming in the mid-term elections,” Erdel recalls with a hint of regret. “It was not a fun time to be a conservative.”
Erdel’s spirits weren’t lifted much by the latest crop of Republican presidential candidates in the run-up to the 2008 election. He supports John McCain for his commitment to the war effort but is bored with the national scene, which might be why his focus has shifted to state and local politics. “I’ve got more control at the local level,” he says. “It’s closer to the people. It’s a lot more fun and a lot less stressful.”
In keeping with this sentiment, Erdel’s latest political priority is assisting in U.S. Congressman Kenny Hulshof’s campaign for Missouri governor in whatever capacity he can. After working with Hulshof as an intern in 2006, Erdel has no doubt his candidate is the right person for the job.
“He’s the most honorable man I’ve ever been around,” Erdel says. “He’s got a good grasp on the issues, and he can bring a fresh perspective to the state capital.”
The problem is that Hulshof currently faces an uphill battle against popular Missouri attorney general and Democratic candidate, Jay Nixon. It’s a position Erdel can identify with after defending his conservative views in college courses taught by liberal professors. He occasionally wears Bush T-shirts to class “just to rub it in their faces a little bit.”
A little bit is the operative phrase here because Erdel holds no serious animosity toward liberals. He enjoys hearing different viewpoints and believes the two-party system is important.
He is considering graduate studies at MU in law or business and plans to enter a career in public service. Above all, Erdel desires to earn a good living, make his parents proud and remind the country “conservatism isn’t dead since 2006,” — not if he can help it.
The other side of the coin
By the time he was elected president of the Rock Bridge Young Democrats in 2004, 17-year-old Sam Hargadine had already spent most his life leaning liberal: He marched in support of Bill Clinton in ’92 when he was 5 years old and watched the fictional idealized liberal presidency depicted in the The West Wing.
Even though he was too young to vote in the 2004 election, he encouraged others to volunteer for the Kerry campaign. The most important issues to Hargadine at the time were largely social: abortion, gay rights and education. The political position he truly coveted was Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Fast-forward four years: Hargadine remains involved in politics as an advocate for student rights at MU, but he has become increasingly aware of his own ideological shift to the center and no longer wants to be Speaker of the House.
“Legislative bodies are dirty,” Hargadine says ruefully. “I still want to work for the government in another capacity, just not in the legislature.”
Hargadine says his change of heart came as a result of working the past semester in Jefferson City, where he became somewhat jaded after interacting with politicians of all stripes. “The bad ones ruin it for the rest of us,” says Hargadine. “It is difficult to get things done because of that.”
Surprisingly, the politician he could get behind is Republican: Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, for whom he interned this semester. Initially hesitant to aid a high-ranking Republican, Hargadine came to respect Kinder’s commitment to senior issues and bipartisan programs.
“It has been a great experience working for the lieutenant governor, and I don’t regret it whatsoever,” Hargadine says. “I even support him in his bid for re-election.”
Despite displaying admiration for one Republican candidate, Hargadine wants to see Jay Nixon take the governor’s seat in the fall. He plans to help assist in Nixon’s campaign over the summer.
Nationally, Hargadine remains a staunch liberal and eagerly awaits what he thinks will be a Democratic domination of the election . “This country is ready for change,” he says.
Now that The West Wing has ended, Hargadine has a new favorite show. Tellingly, it is one he would say accurately reflects the situation of the current presidential administration: Lost.
