As the primary elections quickly approach, candidates took advantage of Saturday’s football home opener to meet and greet Maryland’s football faithful.

State senatorial incumbent John Giannetti (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) and Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R) mingled with fans, each taking a different approach to reaching the voters.

Steele strolled through Lot 1, surrounded by his caravan of supporters, to converse with alumni and make his presence known to all the beer-guzzling, hot dog-grilling constituents who were tailgating before the game.

Giannetti, on the other hand, blasted Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” from his group of tents near the entrance and offered free pizza, soda and Red Bull to his visitors, who were mostly students.

Both Steele, a Republican, and Giannetti, a Democrat, are immersed in intense political races for the U.S. and Maryland Senate, respectively.

“It’s a good way to reach out to student voters,” Giannetti said of his tailgate. “Most students don’t know about government, especially local government, so it’s important as a senator to make a presence.”

Giannetti has been criticized by area officials for serving beer to minors at previous tailgates, but Giannetti said those accusations were blown out of proportion.

“No student ever had any beer that I saw,” Giannetti said. “Finally, we just said we are going to be on the student side [of the stadium] and not have any beer.”

Although Steele did not tout his platform during his visit, he promised to make more scholarship and grant funding available. Such assistance would help students through any future tuition hikes, such as the barrage the university experienced during the state’s deficit following Steele’s 2002 entry into office.

“When there’s no money, you can’t expect tuition to remain the same,” he said. “But the priority hasn’t changed … Maryland is still our flagship campus.”

Steele also echoed the sentiment of Gov. Robert Ehrlich when he visited campus a year ago and dismissed student concerns that the university is not affordable enough for students.

“Relative to other colleges … the price of Maryland in-state tuition is middle of the park,” he said.

As soon as Steele exited his vehicle in front of Cole Field House, Lee Fang, president of College Democrats statewide, tossed Steele his first question: “Why did you accept money from over 120 lobbyists?”

Steele was ushered away to begin his parade around the parking lot, but Fang’s frustration continued.

“His TV ads say he wants to clean up the corruption in Washington. He says he wants to make new rules for lobbyists,” Fang told a Diamondback reporter. “But he’s not going to clean up the lobbyists if he is taking thousands of dollars from lobbyists.”

Unlike Steele, Giannetti spoke to every willing ear about his campaign platform, informing students how he voted multiple times to freeze tuition hikes while handing them a hot dog and red “Terps for Giannetti” T-shirt.

Despite these efforts to solicit support, many of Giannetti’s attempts fell on uninterested ears.

“Truthfully, we don’t know what it’s about, and we don’t care what its about. We just want the free food,” said freshman accounting major Amy Rogers, who attended the tailgate with two friends.

While Rogers and her friends admit the tactic is an effective way of attracting voters, they doubt the candidates are swaying many students’ political opinions.

“Any place they give food, people will come, so it’s not really like people would vote for him,” said freshman business major Jenna Gebel.

Regardless of who hears Giannetti’s position, he said he feels that his presence on campus and any student vote he can collect will make a difference come election day.

“If 1,000 students came out they could carry the balance in this election,” Giannetti said. “I want to show them there is a senator who cares about them for the four or five years they’re on campus. This is the way to do it.”

Contact reporters Ben Block and Steven Overly at blockdbk@gmail.com.