Andrew Velnoskey
The 2008 election, having dominated news coverage for over a year and polarized the public for the past couple months, has finally ended. It was a historic election- the first African-American president, Barack Obama, is set to take office in January. With the usual election-day fears about long lines or flawed ballot-counting present yet again this year, I asked some fellow McDaniel students what they thought about how things played out on November 4th as well as their feelings on Obama and the country’s future.
The general consensus among students going to the polls around here was that things went smoothly. There were adequate volunteers to assist voters, and in spite of predictions of long waits, things moved quickly. This is quite an achievement since many experts predicted upward of an 85% turnout in Maryland.
Of course, many college students live a considerable distance from home and opted to vote via absentee ballot. Junior Tyler Mullen characterized her absentee experience as “super easy.” Mullen also added, “I was really impressed with the turnout of young voters… I really think that our generation had a huge impact on the outcome.” Indeed, according to CNN, Obama received the votes of 66% of voters age 18-29.
Many other students said that they were involved in the voting, happy with the results, and looking forward to actual change. While the population at McDaniel College has tended to favor Obama throughout the campaign, many students have expressed a desire to see both Republicans and Democrats unite and put campaign bitterness behind them now that the election is over.
McDaniel students had many things to say about the election process, outcome, and the future. Junior Rachael Diamond says, “I guess I never really accepted that is was possible for the person I wanted to win to actually win after the last two elections.”
Senior Bianca Rieti says, “I respect that people do not agree/support Obama, but I would like people to give him the chance to shine. America has spoken and Obama is our next president – people need to respect that.”
Junior Jackie Buehrle remarks, “The response of people when the winner was announced was interesting- they were either ecstatic or threatening to move to another country. Hopefully people will realize that it shouldn’t matter who won, but be happy for the change and the history we are making.”
Now that the fury of election-day excitement is fading, it is time to stop simply celebrating our candidate’s victory or mourning his defeat. Americans have responded to Obama’s call for change and McDaniel students, like many other people, are excited for the country to embark in a new direction. All eyes are now on the new president to see if he can harness the renewed energy of the American people and actually make the changes that we desperately need. It is a daunting challenge, but also a magnificent opportunity.