The Red and Black

Issue date: 11/5/08 Section: News

Media Credit: JIM DIFFLY Alan Goodno was dressed up as Uncle Sam and really rocked the vote for "Housing Rocks the Vote 2008" on Tuesday night in Myers Quad. [Click to enlarge]

[Click to enlarge]

With wins in several toss-up states and Sen. John McCain's late-night concession, Sen. Barack Obama became the first black man to be elected president of the United States, ending one of the most historical and hotly contested races in American history.

In Athens Tuesday night, University students and professors expressed their expectations of the election and the factors they thought contributed to Obama's win.

"Well, I expected Obama to win the presidency, once Pennsylvania was called. As far as the electoral college goes, McCain didn't have a chance," said Ian Gunn, secretary for the College Republicans. "Ohio surprised me going to Obama, and I was surprised about McCain's doing well in Virginia."

"I got surprised at how quickly Ohio was called," said Payton Bradford, a senior from Rome and former president of the Young Democrats. "I feel like the Democratic Party's message is resonating well throughout the country."

Several students and professors cited the economic crisis, voter turnout and Obama's campaign strategies as contributors to the election results.

"What surprised me is how quickly the race turned when the financial crisis happened in mid-September," said William Lastrapes, a professor of economics. "McCain was doing quite well, and then when Lehman Brothers went down, he handled that poorly. To me, that was the turning point in this election."

"This was always going to be a tough year for a Republican candidate because of the sitting president and the economy," said Napp Nazworth, a political science lecturer. "Regardless of who's at fault, [voters] will hold the sitting president's party accountable."

Nazworth cited the historical aspect of a black man becoming president as a contributing factor.

Some said a larger student and minority voter turnout also gave Obama an edge.

"Obama has encouraged many people to register, and we're seeing so many new voters this year," said Christie Haynes, a junior from Marietta and the financial coordinator for Republican State Senator Bill Cowsert. " Not just for young, 18-year-old voters, but older people who have never voted before."

"I am excited to see so many students exercising their constitutional right to vote and involving themselves in one of the most important and monumental elections in the last 50 years," said Victoria Plaut, an assistant professor of psychology.

"In fact, I told my class that seeing one of my students studying social psychology while standing in line to vote was a great way to start my day. It showed me that students are rising to the challenge of balancing school and work and life with getting to the voting booth."

Plaut cited several reasons for increased turnout this year, including the social norms of many people voting, a more diverse set of candidates, use of communication technologies and the feeling of every vote's importance.

On campus, Young Democrats and College Republicans have had voter registration drives for months, said Connor McCarthy, Student Government Association president. "It's awesome. Students believe we can make a difference and we will this year."

Students cited Obama's campaign strategies as more effective than McCain's.

"Well, I think Obama ran absolutely the single best campaign I've ever seen in my short life, but probably one of the best campaigns in American history through grassroots organizing," said Louis Elrod, a junior and the president of Young Democrats. "He treated the race like a congressional race by targeting voter groups and having volunteers on the ground."

"Much of what people witnessed during the campaign was McCain making political decisions, one example being the choice of vice presidential running mate," Audrey Haynes, an associate professor of political science, said by e-mail. "His message contained so many conflicting components that those who were really paying attention and were not strongly partisan, had some difficulty believing in him."



What now?

Students and faculty said certain policies and national problems are priorities Obama should address in his beginning days.

"When the race started, I would've said the Iraq war was the biggest issue. Now it's the economy," Elrod said. "This is crunch time, and young people are thinking about their futures and whether they can pay off their loans. From day one, he's got to start making sure he's addressing the economic crisis in every way he can."

Foreign relations is also a challenge Obama must navigate.

"There will be major foreign policy challenges for the next president - in Afghanistan, possibly Pakistan ... and Russia, in its aggressiveness with Georgia," Nazworth said.

Lastrapes said he was concerned with foreign trade agreements, particularly with Obama's plans with North American Free Trade Agreement. "Obama has talked about fair trade, I'm not sure what that means," he said. "Free trade should be promoted and any sort of move toward protectionism could have negative unintended consequences and could tend to make everyone worse off."

Students also recognize the importance placed on health care and taxes.

"It'll be interesting to see Obama's proposed increases in health care and Social Security entitlements, and how he plans to balance his proposed decreases in taxes for lower and middle class Americans," Gunn said.

Some said McCain's loss will prompt the Republican Party to reassess its direction.

"The biggest thing for [the Republican Party] is that Obama will galvanize our party, and we will have to find new leaders and regroup," Christie Haynes said. "In the future, there will be a new message, and we'll get back to principles that our party is founded on. I think you will see a party shift to smaller government and less spending."

"I think John McCain will be taking a backseat in terms of the Republican Party," Gunn said.

As for the significance of this race, "I suspect this will go down as one of the big groundbreaking elections, such as 1980 or 1968," Nazworth said. "It will be one of the most memorable elections of our history."

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