Temple Democrats welcomed Katie McGinty as a special guest at their club meeting Tuesday evening. After the Democratic Party experienced an unexpected loss in the presidential election, club members said they were eager to hear McGinty’s thoughts.
When McGinty entered room 200 in the Student Center, the club members all cheered and applauded. She immediately started the discussion with a thank you to all students that stood by her and the Democratic party throughout the election season, including three students who interned during her campaign.
“I wanted to come tonight because I was very discouraged with the election,” said Bobby Guerrieri, a freshman film and media arts major. “It was important to hear from someone who was even more so directly affected by the election. If she can come out with a positive outlook, we can too. It’s very powerful to hear directly from her.”
McGinty rallied students to continue to push for the wellbeing of the United States, to maintain the country’s “heart and soul” and to not get discouraged by the election results.
“Own the fact that this country is still a good country,” McGinty said. “Take the challenge and punch in the gut we all got on the Nov. 8 election as motivation. The world needs this country to be good. We were close on Nov. 8. We can’t be done.”
Students suggested ways to move forward and asked for her thoughts. Ashton Adams, the club’s secretary asked McGinty for advice in pursuing a career in politics.
“Get active locally and put down roots in a certain place,” said McGinty. “Build a constituency.”
Temple Democrats President Thomas Caffrey thanked McGinty for her time and gave her a Temple shirt and a bouquet of flowers. In return, she told students she would be disappointed if they didn’t reach out to her requesting letters of recommendation or any other form of support she could provide.
“Katie McGinty was the first person I ever voted for and she will always hold a special place in my heart,” Caffrey said. “She is so resilient and embodies the ‘never give up’ attitude. Democrats here wish Nov. 8 would have gone differently and we needed a kick in the rear end to get us motivated. Katie gave us that motivation.”
“I’m not defeated,” he said. “I’m just going to keep going.”
Adriana Imhof can be reached at adriana.imhof@temple.edu.
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