For Kaylin Bugos, a native of a small conservative town in South Carolina, supporting former Republican presidential candidate, Rick Santorum is standard. Here, at the University of Maryland, Santorum supporters are much harder to find.
“They kind of keep to themselves,” Bugos said. “They do exist, it’s just not the average students’ beliefs,” she continued. As Editor-in-Chief of the Terrapin Times, a conservative on-campus publication, Bugos is often surrounded by those who share more similar opinions concerning politics.
The UMD community as a whole, however, is not as accepting. “Most people will tease me about it,” Bugos said. On the other hand, many students are very curious about her position and will often ask her questions and respect her political position.
Sophomore studio art major, Taryn Cruz applauds her for being able to express her opinions in an environment that is already hostile to such conservative opinions. “I like that she has an opinion, can justify it, and uses her passion to contribute to campaigns,” Cruz said.
Santorum, the most socially conservative of all the candidates generally does not find much support from liberal college students. Yet Bugos felt he remained the most appealing and genuine of the candidates throughout his race to secure the Republican nomination for the presidential race. “All of the candidates were saying the same thing,” Bugos said. “With Santorum, even if I didn’t agree on every issue, he would truly do what he believed was right and that was really important to me.
Bugos was impressed by Santorum’s conviction and dedicated her winter break in Greenville, S.C. working on behalf of Santorum’s campaign efforts as an intern. Throughout the day she would phone anyone and everyone asking for volunteer, support, and to vote for Santorum.
Her interest in politics is deep rooted; she worked as part of the Bush campaign when she was only seven years old.
Now that Santorum is out of the race Bugos will have to direct her passion elsewhere. “I didn’t know if he had the chance to win but i wanted to give it a go at least,” she said. “I respect what he did as a candidate and I think we’ll continue to see him as an important force on the national level,” Bugos concluded.
But her work with the Republican Party does not end there. She will be interning at the Republic Jewish Coalition this upcoming fall, an organization that works to connect the Jewish community with Republic leaders.