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FOUR MORE YEARS!–An election wrap up
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Written by Ilana Diamant, The Eagle Senior Writer
And just like that, in one short day, it’s all over.
The campaign ads, the signs everywhere, the news coverage, and the twitter trends. It’s all gone in the wake of this Tuesday night, when President Barack Obama was re-elected for a second term in office with 303 electoral votes and 50% of the popular vote. I stayed up until 3 AM to hear both Mitt Romney’s concession speech and our President’s victory speech. While I do believe Romney’s speech was gracious, I personally could not be happier that the words he was speaking were not ones of triumph.
I did my part for my country. While I cannot even cast a ballot to decide the fate of the presidency, I devoted time to canvassing and phone calls. I participated in the “Get Out the Vote” surge in campaigning the weekend prior to the election. For me, a lot was riding on the results of this election. Will I be able to afford health care after college? Will an aging conservative man have the right to tell me what I can do with my body? Will my favorite comedy shows have enough joke material when this is all over? All of these were running through my head while every news channel meticulously analyzed every number and opinion.
I do not like being written off as an uneducated teenager, ignorant of the issues teenager. I do my research, I know my facts. I love to argue. Obama’s reelection proved me right in at least 10 arguments, so I thank the Obama team for coming through for that!
However, I am not the only opinionated person at this school. “Fudge yeah, motherfudgers!” Hannah Breslau says, adding, “While I’m happy about Obama’s victory, I am happier about Romney’s loss.” Mitt Romney did lose the “young voters” demographic by a large margin, so perhaps Hannah is not alone in her disdain of him.
“Well I knew Obama was gonna win but part of me knew Romney had a chance and to be honest I was scared of what would happen if he won instead of Obama,” said Malcolm Mitchell. I was also confident of an Obama victory, but in the back of my mind I always knew Romney had a chance, and I was not comfortable with that.
I also had the opportunity to question some teachers in our school on their thoughts of this election, its results, the dirtiness of the campaigns, and their hopes for Obama’s second term.
“I am elated Obama won,” says Mr. Vitti, the 11th and 12th grade ToK and History of the Americas teacher, “but I thought Romney was going to win. I did not feel Obama had the same excitement as he did in 2008.”
When asked his opinion of the campaigns, he responded “I didn’t think they were unusual. Messy campaigns are a part of history, this is not the first. The campaign ads did scare me, though.”
Mr. Ehman, IB Film teacher, disagreed. “They were very dirty. The ‘truths’ that were presented were all false.”
Both of them have hope for the next four years. “I’m excited because Obama can just be Obama now. He can really go through with his agenda,” said Mr. Vitti.
“Obama spent government money on long-term benefits,” says Mr. Ehman. “His trademark is Obamacare. Obamacare will be known as a great thing. It’s not going to be repealed now.”
I concluded the interviews with a question that came with an obvious answer. “Are you satisfied?”
“Yes. This election is more important than the one in 2008,” said Mr. Vitti.
“The first time around, Obama could’ve been kind of a novelty,” added Mr. Ehman. “I think this election might turn thirty years of conservative ideology on its head.”
These past few weeks have been a stressful time for anyone who is like me and follows politics and actually cares about the direction our country goes. Election night was not only a victory for Obama, but the first Asian, lesbian, and disabled women were elected to Congress. Gay marriage was approved in several states, as was the legalization of marijuana. Obama’s slogan ‘Forward’ might actually be a real thing, and 50% of this country needs to open their eyes and see that the world is moving on from the ideals and traditions of the past few centuries. I am excited to see what we will accomplish in four years and I am glad I supported our President the whole way through.
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