Massachusetts has lost both of its senators to New York this weekend.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) will speak at 5:15 tonight in the United Auto Worker’s Union Hall Local, 624 at 714 W. Manlius St., while Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) will visit Rochester to continue his own campaign for the Democratic presidential bid.

Kennedy will speak in favor of Kerry, who has support of 60 percent of New York voters, according to a poll conducted this week by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

‘It’s hard for Senator Kerry to get here with all of the states he has to get to for Super Tuesday,’ said Kasia Witkowski, a senior political science and policy studies major and member of the campaign.

Kennedy, who will visit Albany, Rochester and Buffalo before the New York primary Tuesday, also campaigned for Kerry in New Hampshire and throughout the country.

‘He’s been an incredible asset to the team,’ said Eric Scholtz, a New York spokesman for the John Kerry campaign.

Kennedy will address many issues affecting college students, including rising tuition fees and cuts in financial aid.

‘It’s never been more clear that our country needs a change in leadership, and Syracuse is a perfect example,’ Kennedy said, in a statement read by his deputy press secretary, Brent Carrey. ‘Many seniors who will be graduating in just a few months are struggling to find good jobs. Since President Bush took office in 2000, tuitions at public colleges and universities have gone up 26 percent, all this while the president has tried to cut Pell grants and has tried to make student loans more expensive.’

But because few college students actively participate in politics or campaigning, some politicians may not pay much attention to their viewpoints, Witkowski said. Attendance at this event could help change that attitude.

‘If they see young people in the crowd, it gives them the message that these issues are important to us as well and that they should listen to us,’ Witkowski said.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, which has officially backed Kerry, is sponsoring the speech, said Frank Pappalardo, editor of the UAW local 624 newsletter.

Although the UAW, part of the AFL-CIO, has yet to endorse a candidate, union members hope Kennedy will address their concerns of U.S. job losses to foreign markets and Bush’s ‘make it in the third world, sell it in the first world’ policy, Pappalardo said.

‘George Bush is the problem, and he is not showing up tomorrow,’ Pappalardo said.

Because many Democrats agree with Kennedy’s opinions and positions on many current issues, they will trust that his support of Kerry proves that he is the best candidate, Scholtz said.

‘The Democrats know that Ted Kennedy has been a champion of working families for 25 years,’ Scholtz said. ‘And if there’s a candidate in this race who will improve health care, protect the environment, and improve jobs, it’s John Kerry.’

Because of the nature of primaries, where candidates compete with other candidates from the same party, the Kerry campaign’s use of Kennedy is an attempt to appeal to more liberal Democrats, said Thomas Keck, a political science professor at SU.

But if Kerry wins the primary, Kennedy’s liberal stance will be less helpful to Kerry as he tries to appeal to voters on both sides of the political spectrum for the presidential election, Keck said.

Even students who support the other Democratic presidential candidates, or who identify as a member of another party, could benefit from attending the event, Witkowski said.

‘It’s good to know what the other candidates or other party stand for,’ Witkowski said. ‘Then you can make a more accurate decision when you vote.’

Staff writer Dave Robbie

contributed to this report

Published on February 26, 2004 at 12:00 pm