This election galvanized voters of all parties. Everywhere I went yesterday, people sported “I Voted” stickers and were eager to discuss the election. My husband and I went to West Springfield High School at 7:15 AM to vote and found that the line was already snaking its way out of the building. But despite the early hour and the long line, people were upbeat and talkative, energized (in part) by the coffee and baked goods volunteers were selling outside, but mostly by a keen awareness that we were taking part in a historic election. Our long line moved swiftly, and in less than an hour, my husband and I were inside the school and voting. The use of scannable paper ballots made it possible for more people to vote at once, and this new voting method kept the line moving and frustration low. What about you? What happened when you went to vote?
On Mason’s campus, the weather was dreary and damp, but spirits were high.
Student Government ran vans to the Woodson High School polling place, and volunteers promoted this service by becoming “human advertisements.”
Rain apparently, does not damper revolutions!
This guy stole my heart!
Our university was not without its own drama. Yesterday morning, a hacker broke into the Provost’s email account and sent out a fake message announcing that the election had been moved to November 5th. Rumors circulated that Mason students who voted could lose their financial aid.
But such lame attempts proved ineffective against the smart and savvy youthful voters who went to the polls in record numbers. Your demographic – voters between the ages of 18 and 25 – voted overwhelmingly for Obama and helped power him to victory. Now it’s your turn to act upon that mandate and consider how you will help him guide our nation toward economic recovery, energy reform, and improved security both at home and abroad.
How will you meet the challenge Obama made to all Americans in his victory speech last night that change can’t happen without “a new spirit of patriotism, a new spirit of sacrifice?” How has this election influenced your outlook on the future and the role you will play in it as a working professional?
3 comments:
I actually drove all the way home (4 hours!) to vote. I arrived at 5:30 AM and waited in line for 2 hours. However, when all is said and done, it was an interesting experience (my first election!).
However, in reference to your second question, (and pardon the pessimism here) I think that our generation (the youth vote) will do very little to propel Obama through his term.
Simply put, Obama was elected for 2 reasons:
1.) People assume that any form of "change" is good. When ,in reality, most Americans have very little grasp of the current situations that our nation is facing (and are simply placing the trendy vote)
and
2.) Open and outstretched palms elected Obama. Greed drove his campaign and now its going to propel our economy into further turmoil.
We have effectivly chosen a leader who will create a system with more takers than there are givers.
It would be nice to give money to everyone, but, that simply is NOT realistic (or mathmatically possible). I think this is the clear distinction between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats live in a FANTASY world. I find it very difficult to comprehend that a classroom of business majors is unable to see this. AMAZING.
On the day of, I was in class from 9am - 10:15am, and I could see all of the enthusiasm for voting in this historical election. Even though I was eagered before the day of to vote for John McCain, with the help of my friend, and my date that night :-), I clearly looked at the issues at hand and based on the issues that are important to me, I voted for Barack Obama because he clearly has the same point of view that I do. When I arrived at the polling place, around 12:00pm, I was surprised that there was not a longer line than there was. It took about 15 minutes to get in, vote, and get out.
Without a new spirit, you cannot clearly see change. Before moving up here to northern Virginia, my very first friend, who is still my best friend, I never saw any difference between him and myself. Even though I was called names, which I never been called before and don't want to be called again, I truly believe that I voted for the right candidate because Obama has new ideas that will shake up Washington and literally "bring new hope" to our country.
On election day, my voting poll was very uneventful. Took at most 5 minutes to vote, but when i headed in to Arlington to meet some friends, the Obama and McCain supporter were out in full force. Just watching the people stand outside the Clarendon metro state just waving their poster of who they supported was a good site to see. At the one polling station I saw, there was a whole Obama table with cookies and drinks while only one lonely McCain supporter handing out paper about the position of each candidate.
Overall, I think electing Obama can give 2 outcome. The first would be a very grim one for me especially with a finance degree, since more regulations could hinder the market even further making it impossible to get a loan for personal or business reason. If Obama does not stand up to certain liberal bill brought by congress and senate this would only make this further worst. On the other hand, if Obama tries to be bipartisan and steer away from over regulations, excessive taxes and spending he will succeed in making the United States a better place.
Post a Comment