Bradley seeks student votes lfor husband

Ernestine Bradley, wife of presidential candidate Bill Bradley, campaigned for her husband in the Ann Arbor area yesterday, by attending several functions including a meeting with the University's chapter of the College Democrats and a visit to the University's Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"I am a committed volunteer," she said of her role in the campaign, adding that she is not a politician and is not yet sure what type of role she will personally play in the political arena.

Ernestine Bradley is a professor of German and Comparative Literature at Montclair State University in New Jersey. She said her role in politics, is at the moment uncertain, but of her professorship, she said, "there is no job that I love better than that."

But despite Ernestine Bradley's love of teaching, she has taken a leave of absence to help campaign for her husband.

Although cancer care and research is not an issue on Bill Bradley's presidential platform, part of the Ann Arbor tour yesterday included a visit to the University's Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Visiting the center was of particular interest to Ernestine Bradley who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. After fighting and successfully overcoming the disease, Ernestine and Bill Bradley have been active and outspoken supporters of cancer research and cancer organizations. Talking openly about cancer has somewhat taken the "taboo" away, she said.

"Bill has been an incredible supporter," said Ernestine Bradley of her husband attentiveness during the time when she was ill.

Ernestine Bradley said she the University's cancer center shows encouraging improvements in cancer care.

Ernestine Bradley has also published several books; her latest being The Language of Silence: West German Literature and the Holocaust. She said during an interview that her book explores the works of writers from the post-World War II period.

"I want to know who they are in the present by analyzing how they look back at the Nazi Regime," she said. There is a discussion of her book today at the Ann Arbor Jewish Community Center at 11:30 a.m.

But her visit to the University, Ernestine Bradley said, is mainly to organize for Bradley's campaign and "energize the students here."

When asked in a private interview yesterday why Bill Bradley is a better candidate than Vice President Al Gore, who is also running for the Democratic presidential nomination, she said, "Bill is a better candidate because he has more life experience." He has had more than just government experience which includes being a writer, speaker and former NBA basketball player, she said.

The fact that Bill Bradley "played on a multi-racial team" and "traveled all over the country," has brought him in contact with more people on a more intimate basis, Ernestine Bradley said.

She added that the process of traveling - which Bill Bradley has been doing for the past 30 years - has enabled him to "put together a narrative of who we are as a country."

By compiling this information Bill Bradley has come to the conclusion that "we are all Americans" and that he wants "to appeal to the commonality of all of us," Ernestine Bradley said.

After meeting with the College Democrats, which was open to the public, students were invited to sign on to the campaign to elect Bill Bradley.

Members of the College Democrats were pleased with the turnout. In previous years, "students have been overwhelmingly supportive" in Democratic politics, said College Democrats President Josh Cowen , an LSA senior.

Law first-year student David Sikes said that he came to hear and learn more about the Bradley campaign and found the question-answer period informative.

09-15-99