Students Share Opinions on Election Results

By Broadside Reporter David Pierce

Students reacted Wednesday afternoon to Barack Obama’s historic victory as the first black president-elect of the United States.

Most of the students interviewed were happy, many ecstatic, with the announcement Tuesday night that Obama would be the 44th president.

“I can’t begin to explain the joy and the pride that I feel about President-elect Barack Obama! I can’t even believe I can say that; President Obama—Wow!” said Anthony Taylor, a sophomore medical technician major. Freshman Yalda Moslehian, a communication major, agreed with Taylor, and felt relieved that McCain lost. However, Senior Nick Bukowski, an economy major, thought the country would be going in the wrong direction with Obama’s victory.

“I think the whole country is going to hell,” Bukowski said, adding that Obama, as president, would shut down the economy. He also believed the main reason Obama was elected was due to a “cult of personality,” blaming it on the media coverage of the elections.

“The media is in the bag with [Obama],” Bukowski said.

Senior Mohad Mohamed, information systems major, said that Obama’s opponent, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., lost the election because of the current financial crisis on Wall Street. Junior Ahmed Fateh, a psychology major, agreed with Mohamed and added that McCain hurt his chances of becoming president when he temporarily suspended his campaign by helping fix the financial crisis in Washington. Masters student Jon Ruark, an information security and assurance major, believed McCain lost due to his lack of Internet presence with young voters.

“[McCain is] still part of the Republican ‘old boy’ network,” Ruark said. Moslehian said some Republicans considered McCain to be too moderate and that his choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate was a big factor in his loss, too.

Obama’s claim to bring change to America was a highly debated issue among the students. Ruark said that Obama, while trying to be bipartisan, would not bring enough change to the country. Moslehian believed Obama would bring change by doing what many Republicans believe to be “distributing the wealth,” by rolling back the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy. Bukowski, a pro-life student, was concerned Obama might nominate a pro-choice justice to the Surpreme Court if the need arose.

Obama won the presidency with 364 electoral votes to McCain’s 162 votes, with 11 electoral votes from Missouri still too close to call by press time, although McCain had a slight lead over Obama. Moslehian attributed Obama’s victory to a political change in America.

“Obama winning shows that the country is ready, is progressing, and is more diversified now,” Moslehian said. Bukowski said that unintelligent people would find Obama appealing.