Interview with Andrew “Shadow” Hill on the NH Primaries
I got a chance to speak with Andrew “Shadow” Hill, the president of the College Republicans, about the New Hampshire Primary and the election in general. The Daily Emerald ran a story on the NH primaries today, but they interviewed their own columnist, Nik Antovich, to represent the College Repubs. Classy, guys. The OC interviewed Hill back in 2006 when he was running for state office.
OC: Any general thoughts, gut reactions or detailed analysis of New Hampshire?
Hill: Well, I think the early primaries are a joke. All these states that don’t matter get bumped up in the primary schedule; I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet. It’s still a long, long road to the elections.
It kind of sucked that Ron Paul only got half of what he did in Iowa. As far as the Democrats, I was surprised that Hillary kicked Obama’s ass. Apparently, everyone felt sorry for her and that’s why she beat him.
OC: Who would you rather have get the Democratic nomination, Hillary or Obama?
Hill: They’re not very different, but I guess I’d rather have Obama … because he’s not Hillary. It seems like Obama at least actually believes what he’s saying, whereas I think Hillary is doing it 100 percent for personal gain. [OC alum] Andy Dolberg always said he wanted to see Hillary as president in ’08 because it would speed up the revolution.
OC: Who are you voting for?
Hill: I like Ron Paul, and I’m going to vote for him. A lot of people call him a libertarian RINO, but he’s just a conservative.
I don’t like any of the front-runners. None of them are true Republicans. One of my friends described Huckabee as a populist, which he is. He’s kind of like Bush. He believes in traditional, conservative values, but he’s a big-government guy. And Mitt Romney is just as bad as the Democrats. He doesn’t understand the Second Amendment. I will not vote for him; I will vote third party. We’ve been playing this “vote for the lesser evil” game too long, and it’s time to let politicians know we’re fed up. I think it’s time to start voting third-party.
OC: Who do you predict will take the Republican nomination?
Hill: I think Guiliani will be a sleeper candidate. He’ll take New York, and if he can pull California and Texas as well, he’ll have the primary in the bag. Right now, I’m predicting Guiliani with McCain as his running mate; they’re pretty buddy-buddy. That’s not what I’d prefer, but that’s what I think will happen.
OC: Are the College Republicans doing any election events?
Hill: Yeah, we’re putting out a table, hopefully sometime next week in front of the EMU, with information, propaganda, etc. on all the Republican candidates.
