Hours before Saturday’s football game began, a packed crowd at Memorial Union’s Shannon Hall was already fired up, as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., rallied support for former Sen. Russ Feingold’s campaign.
The rally centered on the issue of college affordability and was the third time this month that Feingold has come to campus. Feingold, who faces a rematch against U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., next year, lambasted the “ruthless approach” that lenders take toward student loans, and noted the issue of college affordability was the single most common concern among voters he has spoken to on the campaign trail.
“A college education must be available to those who work hard to get there,” Feingold said. “Your parents shouldn’t have to be rich for you to go to college.”
Feingold said changes to legislation could only be made if college students went to the polls and voted.
“Voting is our most powerful weapon,” Feingold said.
While Feingold was greeted with enthusiastic cheers, Warren received a hero’s welcome and had to wait for a rousing standing ovation to end before she could begin her speech. The senator recalled her first encounter with Feingold 20 years ago, praising his determination to fight for his constituents.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin came after the two senators for what they said was empty rhetoric in a statement over the weekend.
“Voters can draw their own conclusions from the fact that two elite liberal academics plan to lecture students on rising college costs after collecting six-figures in speaking fees,” Chris Martin, communications director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said in the statement.
Warren described herself as a champion of college affordability in the Senate, sponsoring a “Bank on Students” bill attempting to lower federal loan interest rates.
To offset the cost of the cuts, she proposed closing several tax loopholes for the wealthy. However, this measure was filibustered by senate Republicans and the bill eventually died.
“Let’s face it,” Warren said. “The game is rigged, the Republicans rigged it, and they want to keep it that way.”
Warren said creating accessible loans is not simply a matter of helping students out, but that crippling student debt is bad for the American economy as a whole.
“This is about how we create a future,” she explained. “We invest in the education of the next generation.”
Chet Edelman, a sophomore studying political science, said he came to the rally because of Warren’s reputation as a public speaker. However, he worried that while some may get excited by her message, many students are dangerously apathetic to the political process.
“Our generation is at a turning point,” Edelman said. “It’s necessary that students get out and vote if they want to see anything change.”
Feingold lost to Johnson in 2010 and will try to win back his former seat in November 2016.
