Senior is all about Republican pride

College Republicans President Anne Scuffham, a senior political science major, knows a little about political campaigning -- she's been perfecting the skill for 16 years.\nScuffham got her start in Republican politics as a 5-year-old in Birmingham, Ala. She was at her grandfather's side election day 1984 as he cast his vote at the local precinct for incumbent President Ronald Reagan. Barely old enough to read a ballot, yet alone fill one out, Scuffham still did her part to help give Reagan the victory.\n"My grandfather told me, 'Nobody can resist a 5-year-old telling them to vote for Reagan,'" Scuffham said. "So I went around outside the polling place asking people, 'Will you please vote for Mr. Reagan?'"\nIn essence she's doing the same thing today, albeit for Mr. Bush rather than Mr. Reagan, and in a much less shrill voice. Besides organizing College Republicans meetings and passing out Republican literature, Scuffham has worked at Monroe County Republican headquarters and participated in a Republican youth leadership conference in Washington.\nScuffham's commitment to the Republican party is rooted in that party's anti-abortion platform. After attending an anti-abortion rally with her family while in grade school, Scuffham said she informed her parents, "If they're not pro-life, I'm not voting for them." \nGov. George W. Bush said during the recent debates that he personally opposes abortion. Scuffham said she's confident that, if elected, he would continue his tradition of voting against abortion. \nScuffham spoke animatedly about this year's elections. Besides keeping up-to-date on local and national polls, Scuffham said she stays informed of the other parties' activities. She and other College Republicans traveled to Indianapolis at the beginning of the month to protest President Clinton's expected appearance in support of Indiana Democratic Congresswoman Julia Carson. \nScuffham had a few things to add about the president himself.\n"The day after Bill Clinton won the election in 1992, I wore black to school," Scuffham said. She was in eighth grade at the time. In high school, Scuffham saved all her baby-sitting money to become an associate member of Mobile, Ala. Young Republicans (for college and post-graduate students). She was too young to become a full member. \nTo say that Scuffham looks forward to the end of the Clinton-Gore administration is an understatement. First on the agenda if Bush is elected, Scuffham said, is to retroactively fix the military.\nThe issue has personal meaning for Scuffham. Her father is a retired Navy officer, and Scuffham said she has seen first-hand a loss of morale in the military.\n"My dad has friends in the military who are on food stamps. That's ridiculous," she said.\nScuffham said it's the combination of dedication to rebuilding the military, returning government control to the states and reducing taxes that make the Republican party the best choice for America in the new millennium.\n"(The presidential race) is absolutely not a choice between two evils," as some have argued, Scuffham said. "It's more like a choice between good and evil."\nUltimately, Scuffham said, she would like to be one of the "good" candidates. In an ideal world, she would one day be a Republican president's chief of staff, she said. But for the near future Scuffham has her sights set on a job with the Republican National Committee in Washington.\nExiting a College Republicans executive board meeting Sunday night, sophomores Justin Guild and Andrew Hamilton had only compliments for their group's leader. \nGuild said he looks to Scuffham for guidance not only in all things Republican but in everyday life questions.\n"She's just a good person to be around ... her sense of humor and wit helps a lot when you're dealing with personal issues," he said.\nHamilton said he admires Scuffham's integrity and strength. With all there is to organize in an election year, "she holds her own very well," he said.\nNov. 8, Scuffham said she hopes to leave the governing and campaigning to President-elect Bush, while she gets some much-needed sleep. But until that time she'll be out making phone calls, making visits and asking people if they'll please vote for Mr. Bush.