Although sometimes forgotten by Macalester students, the Presidential election proved that Republicans do, in fact, exist. This week, I tracked down Kramer Lawson ’05 to find out first-hand what life is like for a Republican Mac student. I felt a bit sheepish about choosing a Spotlight subject based solely on his voting persuasion, but as I quickly learned, Kramer is a very good sport about being constructed as the Political Other.

Shane: So you know that I called you because you’re a Republican on campus. How does that make you feel that I’m kind of singling you out for this?

Kramer: It’s certainly not the first time I’ve been singled out, but for the most part it’s usually been in a positive light. You would think it would be hard to be a Republican on campus, but for the most part as long as you have some thick skin you can kind of have some fun with it. It’s not too bad. You sometimes see some of the vitriol people come up with because people get so emotional about politics on this campus. This election, the Mac GOP did some chalking and we just had fun with it. No one’s going to take us seriously and we’re not really trying to win people’s minds over, we’re just trying to let people know that there is a conservative voice at Macalester, and not just one person.

Shane: I thought it was funny.

Kramer: That was the goal.

Shane: The “Librarians for Bush” and the “Laura Bush was a Librarian” in particular. Generally you say you haven’t had a problem with it, but have there been some rancorous times?

Kramer: Yeah, I’ve definitely gotten into some heated discussions with people. First semester I wasn’t real comfortable. Our first semester was pretty unique in American history, with what we had to go through. I’ve been conservative pretty much my whole life. My parents are both deeply religious and conservative politically. Coming here, I knew it was liberal, but I didn’t know the extent, really. It was a bit of a shock. The first two weeks we were on campus the terrorist attacks happened and I got into it with some people on the floor September 12th, and it really opened my eyes to how, exactly, Macalester people feel.

Shane: You said people were getting emotionally wrapped up in the election, which I certainly agree with. Did you feel like you had the same emotional reaction to it?

Kramer: I feel passionately about issues, but I don’t feel like it’s going to be the end of the world if a Democrat is president because . . .

Shane: Because they’re the same? Because they’re the same?

Kramer: No. It’s something that John Kerry said in his concession speech today that at the end of the day, we’re all Americans and there’s a pretty core set of values irrespective of political differences. And there were substantial differences in this election, especially on social issues. And that’s why I felt energized because there’s a pretty strict difference between the way that Macalester students feel and the way that the President feels. It was a good feeling last night. I’m still kind of on a high, knowing that college Republicans really helped make that difference. That’s a pretty good feeling. The college Republicans is really a great group. It’s really the same thing as any left-wing organization. It’s the same ideas, it’s the same principles, we just wear sweaters and khaki pants.

Shane: I felt like today there was a pall over all of campus. What’s it like to be feeling such a disparate emotion?

Kramer: Last night I went to the official Bush victory party up in Minnetonka at the Marriot and I left shortly after Fox called Ohio for the President, after Mark Kennedy had just given his acceptance speech, and there was an unbelievable high in that room. People were just so stoked. I was there with some other college Republicans from other schools. Some people had taken a semester off and had really, really deeply immersed themselves in the campaign. It was awesome to see the joy that they were able to express on a job well done and a mission accomplished for them. And the contrast driving back over here and coming back on campus and the eerie stillness and the shock that had just leveled campus was just unbelievable. Just the stark, stark contrast.

Shane: So, you also said you’re deeply religious. You know the two predominant stereotypes about the Mac body is that they’re not religious and totally to the left. Have you felt any isolation because of that?

Kramer: This is something we’re actually talking about at Mac Christian Fellowship tomorrow night. No matter where you are, everyone faces temptation and trial. There may be things that are unique to being at Macalester, but the way I see it is that even though your political ideas are important to you, they’re not like religious ones, at least for me. Religion is what shapes my life, my politics. [Kramer emits a barely audible burp] I hope you didn’t get that on tape.

Shane: Oh, I’m putting that in. You think I’m joking.

Kramer: But, you know, I know that there are people that strongly believe that Christianity is bad and has been a bad influence on history, but I couldn’t disagree more. I think there’s a lot of good that comes out of being a Christian at Macalester because you have more chance for impact.

Shane: Chance for impact?

Kramer: Yeah.

Shane: I thought you were going to say chance for temptation.

Kramer: [laughing] Certainly, I do, but that’s one of those things that can really strengthen your faith. If you’re faced with temptation you’ve got to be strong and turn them down. There’s a solid group of Christians at Macalester. I didn’t get plugged in till my junior year to the Christian group at Macalester, but since then it’s been really great for me.

Shane: I’ve seen their meetings and they’re pretty large.

Kramer: They’re not too bad! I’m the large group leader this year and it’s fun to see new people come in. Next year I hope we can continue to grow.

Shane: What are you studying, by the way?

Kramer: I’m an Economics and Political Science major.

Shane: So we’ve talked about what it’s like socially here at Mac. Do you feel like it translates into the classroom?

Kramer: Oh yeah. You can definitely tell when professors have a left-wing tilt. I’ve had political science classes where the professor doesn’t really have an ax to grind per se, but you can tell that he comes from a certain perspective. In sociology, I definitely had a teacher in that department where I disagreed factually with what the professor was teaching, and I challenged her on the academic quality of what she was teaching. I said that in other classes we’ve read works and then we’ve read critiques, but in your class we’ve read works and we’ve read more stuff to back it up. Where’s the critique? She told me that every day living in America is a critique of this work, that you live the critique and therefore it’s not her obligation to provide a critique in the classroom.

Shane: I think that’s silly.

Kramer: I think that’s ridiculous. I think that’s academically shallow. As a serious intellectual, I think you have an obligation to strengthen [an argument] by showing a critique of it.

Shane: Have you had liberal roommates?

Kramer: I’ve never lived with anyone who’s a leftist activist. My roommate sophomore year was definitely liberal. His dad is a left-wing activist and fits in with the Macalester crowd, but that was much less of an issue than all the normal roommate stuff.

Shane: I think I’m good to go. What are you up to now?

Kramer: I’ve got a national security paper to write.

Shane: Oh. That sounds like fun.

Kramer: It’s for one of my liberal professors.