Jerry Springer spoke to students at a Democratic rally in the Union last night, urging them to vote for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry this Nov. 2.

Nathan Nickens, a BGSU student who is running for state senate, and Robin Weirauch, an employee of BGSU’s Center for Policy and Public Service who is running for Ohio’s 5th District in the House of Representatives, also spoke at the rally.

Springer, former mayor of Cincinnati, criticized President Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq.

“[The] war gropes for justification and finds none,” he said. “We’re America, we don’t start wars, we defend ourselves,” he said, explaining that invading Afghanistan makes sense in the war on terror, but “diverting attention” to Iraq does not.

Springer emphasized to the crowd of about 250 students that this election is their “only shot” at voicing their opinions against the president’s handling of the war in Iraq.

“If Bush and Cheney get re-elected, they won’t have to worry about re-election and they aren’t going to listen to protesters,” he said.

“You’re the ones bearing the brunt [of this election],” Springer said. “If college becomes so expensive that only the wealthy can afford it, we’ve lost America,” he said, calling education the lowest priority of Ohio’s agenda.

Weirauch introduced Springer after discussing her own platform to the audience.

She pledged to fight for issues important to Ohio, including a slow economy, loose Environmental Protection Agency regulations on power plants and high Medicare costs.

Nickens, the first major speaker of the rally, introduced Weirauch.

Nickens, 22, spoke to the crowd of mostly Democratic supporters about the changes he would make as a state senator.

The largest portion of Ohio’s budget goes to Medicaid, said Nickens before the rally, and that reducing the money paid to insurance companies is one of his objectives.

Another aim of Nickens, himself a student of the University, is to re-invest in higher education.

“In 1991, the Supreme Court said Ohio’s education system is unconstitutional, and has said that four times since then,” he said, asserting that Ohio must allocate more funds to education.

After the rally, Springer said that the momentum is with Kerry after the first two presidential debates.

“If the election were held today, I think Kerry could win,” he said.

Molly Gannon, a student of the University, liked Springer’s speech.

“I think [Springer] spoke a very powerful message to vote,” she said.

Gannon is taking that message to heart. “I’m trying to get my roommate to vote,” she said.