Vicki Tiahrt dines, discusses issues with College Republicans

In the midst of her husband's campaign for U.S. senator, Vicki Tiahrt stopped by K-State yesterday evening to visit. At Houlihan's, she dined with members from the K-State College Republicans organization and other students who are interested in the 2010 congressional elections. Her visit at K-State was one of many she has made across Kansas as she visits college campuses.

The dinner, more of an informal gathering of politically motivated students than a campaign rally, featured discussions between her and students about current issues affecting Kansas. Tiarht said the experience of visiting college students has been rewarding. The responses from her visits have shown her that students are aware of political issues and want to make a difference.

"Conventional wisdom tells us that college students don't matter," Tiahrt said. "That's not true."

She said Kansas students are "willing to take a stand with some blow back" and that they "don't blink" in the face of opposition. Asked what she had hoped to gain from her visit to Manhattan, Tiahrt said she hoped to "have fun and make some new Facebook friends." That lighthearted motive set the tone for the dinner as she allowed the students to discuss issues freely and openly.

Shelby Danielsen, president of the College Republicans, said the idea was to visit with Tiahrt on a more personal level than in a formal meeting where she would stand and speak to an audience. Danielson said it was the first time the College Republicans have met Tiahrt as a group.

The Kansas Federation of College Republicans recently endorsed Todd Tiahrt for his senatorial campaign. Vicki Tiahrt said that they are honored to have the endorsement and proud the College Republicans were using their voice to endorse a candidate.

"I think she's awesome," said Page Routhier, president of the KFCR, of Tiahrt. "She didn't focus too much on the campaign and allowed us to focus on our concerns and give her ideas."

Tiahrt closed her meeting with a speech to the group of people that turned out at the dinner. She spoke about how the voices of students do not go unheard and polled the group about how many of them are considering running for election someday. To the several who raised their hands, she offered some advice, and told the students not to let money dictate their decision of whether or not to run for office.

Throughout the night, she also offered several Todd Tiahrt campaign stories from the 1990s. Most of the students would not remember the early campaigns, she said. Most notably, she recounted the 1994 election, Todd Tiahrt's first campaign, against opponent Dan Glickman. The race was seen by critics as an unlikely win for any Republican and Glickman had superior funding, yet Todd Tiahrt won the election with 54 percent of the vote.

Courtney Hall, junior in feed science and management, said she attended the dinner gathering because she saw it as an opportunity to socialize with other college students interested in politics. She also wanted to "get to know Vicki and what she has to say."

"Patriotism is alive and well in Kansas," Tiahrt said. "K-State students are very bold."