The Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network’s Campaign 2008 bus made a stop in the Brickyard Thursday.
The bus is part of C-SPAN’s “Road to the White House” program that covers the 2008 Presidential race.
This bus is one of two campaign buses that travel to schools and universities across the nation.
“The bus serves two purposes — it is a fully operational production vehicle for C-SPAN and it is also an educational tool that we use to educate people about C-SPAN and the political happenings of this country,” Sarah Howard, a marketing representative from C-SPAN, said.
According to Howard, C-SPAN is not campaigning to support any particular candidate.
“We give equal coverage to each party and politician and bring the story to you in its entirety so you can form your own opinion,” she said.
According to Howard, the bus was traveling through the Raleigh area and C-SPAN was looking for an opportunity to bring the bus to N.C. State.
Representatives contacted Student Body President Bobby Mills who arranged to have the bus parked on the Brickyard from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
“When C-SPAN contacted me, I thought it was a great way to get people interested and involved in this year’s presidential race,” Mills said. “People from our generation will play a big factor in this year’s election and I hope that the bus helps students become more enlightened about the campaign issues and candidates.”
According to Howard, the bus has visited 32 states, 126 cities and 71 universities. It has traveled 32,760 miles, has been visited by 41,870 people and presidential candidates John McCain, Mitt Romney and Bill Richardson have all been interviewed on the bus.
This is the first time the bus has visited NCSU, but Howard said she would love to come back to the campus, possibly for the North Carolina primaries in May.
Howard said the network gives people who are interested in politics the opportunity to receive full access to the House of Representatives and Senate meetings as well as other political happenings.
She also said the “Road to the White House” program gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the candidates.
Dale Pennington, a senior in communication, said C-SPAN is a great network, giving people “up-to-date and unbiased coverage.”
“That is important since the media has revolutionized political campaigning,” Pennington said. “Anything that you want to know about any politician is readily available 24/7 and a lot of that information is biased in some way.”
Howard said she has discovered that college students she has talked to while touring with the bus are really passionate about the presidential race. Student Body Treasurer Jason Smith agreed.
“Young people are going to have a direct influence on who wins the election in November,” Smith said. “It was a wonderful idea to have this bus out here since so many students are really interested in the election.”
The bus will travel to Duke University today and then will head to Greensboro before going out west, according to Howard.
“College students are really excited to talk to us about the candidates they support and they really want to be involved in the political process,” Howard said. “We were excited to be at N.C. State today. We received such a warm welcome here.”
