Young Voter Profiles: A Republican In Berkeley

By Jocelyn Sida, September 9, 2008

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Rock The Trail's Jocelyn Sida talks to UC Berkeley student Josh Curtis about his perspectives on the upcoming election and living in a liberal California college town.

Welcome to the first installment in my three-part series on young voters and the 2008 presidential campaign. To start off the series, I talked to Josh Curtis, a 19 year-old UC Berkeley sophomore who's majoring in political science. Josh is a typical college student who listens to rock, techno and classical music, reads science fiction novels like Dune and Lord of the Rings and his favorite movie is Gladiator.

I met Josh when we used to compete in the Citrus Belt speech and debate league in high school. Josh was the Presiding Officer in the debate team House of Congress that I was in. Since then, we've kept in contact and found that we share many common interests, especially our love for politics.

As a Rock the Trail reporter I wanted to find out what was motivating Josh this election. What issues did he care about as a young voter and what does political activism mean to him? Josh has a unique perspective as a proud Republican who attends school at UC Berkeley, a campus and city known for it's liberal political legacy.

“It is a nice town to live in as a student, given that there are so many other young people my age,” he says of life in Berkeley. “It is also a plus to be able to walk or take public transportation to most of the places I need to go. But, I wouldn't enjoy living in Berkeley after college, given the politically radical atmosphere, the high crime rate of the general area, and the overall non-family-friendly nature of the city.”

In the following interview, Josh talks about the conservative movement, John McCain and America's future.

Rock The Trail: What political party are you affiliated with and why?

Josh Curtis: I'm a Republican because I believe strongly in the classical liberal values of the Western tradition and I believe that we ought to promote them. I believe in limited government, and I also believe that the government has a responsibility to protect its citizenry and advance the cause of freedom around the world. I want our nation and or world to be strong. I think that history has demonstrated that the only engine for sustained long-term prosperity is free-market capitalism, and that the only way to defeat evil is to confront it.

How long have you been involved with politics?

JC: I got my start with politics in high school. Near the end of my freshman year, I began to realize how incredibly essential a great and well-functioning society was to the quality of life not only of myself but also of everyone in the world. Because of my burgeoning interest in discovering how our nation could maintain its prominence and vitality and best serve its citizens, I turned to politics and political activism to act as the agent that would bridge my ideas regarding society with the realities of the world.

I found that I strongly identified with the conservative movement, and my sophomore year I joined the Conservative Student Union. The group, perhaps due to a lack of popular support on my generally liberal campus, soon disbanded and failed to create a significant impact at the high school.

I was determined to fight for the values and concepts I believed in, so I established a Young Republicans club at the beginning of my junior year. We discussed conservative politics, unified those beleaguered by the ideological lopsidedness of many on campus, and launched a campaign to raise funds for advancing the conservative cause on our campus. We raised several hundred dollars during the school year, and garnered $1,000 pure profit from a single fundraiser that we held during the summer. We also organized a number of voter registration drives, and registered approximately 22 people in my senior year alone. Finally, we increased our registered membership from twenty students our first year to sixty by the time I had graduated.

I continued my activism in college, getting involved in the Berkeley College Republicans, the Alameda County Republican Party Central Committee, and Berkeley's renowned conservative magazine, the California Patriot. I currently serve as President of the Berkeley College Republicans and as Managing Editor of the California Patriot.

How do you feel about the Republican candidate for president on the issues you care about this election?

JC: I agree with Senator John McCain on most issues, and I will be voting for him. In addition to his stand on the issues, I think he is one of the greatest public servants our nation has ever seen. He has shown a tremendous degree of integrity throughout his lifetime, including refusing to be set free by his captors in Vietnam until all the other POWs were released, taking unpopular policy positions that he deemed in the best interest of the country, and serving his nation in elected office for decades.

He supported General David Petraeus' surge strategy far before it was even implemented, when it was still a relatively unpopular plan. The change in strategy has succeeded in Iraq, enabling more security, dramatically lowering casualty levels, and consequently allowing for the political reconciliation, which needs to occur in Iraq. On pork barrel spending and government waste, he has been a fearless voice for common sense, consistently opposing the frivolous expenditure of taxpayers' hard-earned money. He's continually proven his mettle and his absolute commitment to service of country before service of self. That is what we need in a Commander-in-Chief, and I will proudly campaign and vote for Senator John McCain.

What are you most looking forward in this election?

JC: I am looking forward to gaining the chance to campaign more actively than I ever have before and gaining experience in political organizing. However, I am even more excited about the prospect of electing a true American hero for president and electing principled conservatives to offices down the ticket.

Are your peers involved with or up to date with this years' Presidential race?

My “peers” are a wide, diverse group of people. Some of them are very involved in the elections and politics in general, others are relatively apathetic, and still others are interested in politics but aren't particularly involved, usually because they are on the fence politically. It does seem to me, however, that youth interest in politics is increasing, which I attribute mainly to the virtual omnipresence of politics on cable news and on the internet.

Do you see yourself as a role model to your peers?

JC: It would be quite presumptuous of me to declare myself a role model to my peers. I try to inform myself as much as possible, and I stand up for what I believe. If someone seeks to be a leader, they must practice what they preach, and lead by example. That is a rare and noble trait, which is unfortunately lacking in most of our political leaders today.

What message do you want to convey to young voters around the nation?

JC: I would simply say get informed on the issues, read about them thoroughly, examine your values and see how they fit in to the political arena, and contemplate how you might best advance those values, whatever they may be.

Where do you see yourself in 10 or 20 years?

JC: I see myself in charge of a small business or law practice, happily married, perhaps raising some patriotic young kids, involved in my community and in my church, and -- if the conditions are right -- possibly serving in or running for public office.

The Young Voters series will continue in the next few weeks with interviews with a young Democrat and a Green Party member.

Jocelyn Sida, 19, was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. in a Mexican-American home and is currently a sophomore at Northland College in Ashland, WI. where she hosts the area's only Spanish radio show. She is currently a reporter for Rock The Trail -- a project of Rock the Vote and WireTap.