Obama Re-elected

By Harry Blakeman, Staff Writer blakeman15@up.edu

The quiet side of the Bauccio Commons was far from its reputation Tuesday night as the Vote UP event, an Election Night watch party, closely followed the results of the presidential election. Students crowded the tables and watched NBC's coverage projected larger than life, laughing at the network's overuse of computer- generated images and cheering for the passing of same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization ballot measures in other states. Many were on Facebook, Twitter or news sites while enjoying the free pizza, salad and fruit punch. Even those who were too busy studying still peered over their work to focus on the screen from time to time.

The Commons was close to filled at the beginning of the evening, and most students were talking excitedly about the candidates or ballot measures. The dining room remained well-attended and jubilant through President Obama's re-election victory as the seemingly overwhelmingly pro-Obama crowd erupted into cheers.

Senior Keenan Moore, who came to the Commons to get dinner and decided to drop in on the party to see who was winning, was enthusiastic about the strong voter turnout, which was almost 75 percent in Oregon. Moore believes this election was crucial for the future of America, especially in the way the world perceives the U.S. and in the way young people think of their government.

"It's nice to see that so many people are involved and excited," said Moore.

Sophomore Kevin Sharp, who counted himself among the few Republicans attending the event, was disappointed in the results. Sharp thought Mitt Romney presented a clearer economic vision and believes that under Obama, the economy will likely plateau.

"Still, I don't think the country will explode or anything like that," said Sharp.

Sharp also expressed optimism for emerging civil rights, such as marriage equality, but believes that this sort of progress would likely happen under either candidate.

Political science professor Gary Malecha thinks the elections reaffirmed Obama's popularity. He was not surprised by Obama's decisive win over Romney.

Only about a week ago, Malecha was one of many who thought the president might win the Electoral College but lose the popular vote.

"One of the things I was surprised the networks didn't mention much is that the exit polls indicated a fair amount of enthusiasm for Obama - there's a lot of people who still support him and are fairly excited," said Malecha.

Malecha said that in many ways this election served as a referendum on Obama's initiatives, and believes that the electorate voiced its opinion to let him finish the job. Malecha believes Obama's healthcare law, which fully goes into effect in 2014, will now be difficult to overturn.

Looking forward, Malecha sees the growing deficit as Obama and Congress' major concern.

"It's going to be a major preoccupation - they may come up with a temporary fix, but they're going to need a long-term fix as well. Left undealt with, it could threaten the American economic recovery," said Malecha.

Beyond the presidential election, Portlanders made Charlie Hales their new mayor. He defeated Jefferson Smith 62 percent to 30 percent.While Oregon, Colorado and Washington had marijuana legalization on their ballots, only Oregon rejected the measure, 54 percent to 46 percent. Washington also legalized same-sex marriage, an issue not on the Oregon ballot.

Malecha predicts more states will have marriage equality and cannabis legalization on their ballots in the future, and thinks either might be picked up by politicians at the federal level.

Sophomore Rachael Smith was voting in her first presidential election, and was excited to attended Tuesday night's event.

"I was happy. I think it's exciting to be voting at this time - it's a historical election with the things on the ballot like gay marriage," Smith said. "That we can even approach voting on these issues makes it a powerful time."

Smith was optimistic for college students voting for the first time, and hopeful that the students that attended the event would engage in the political process in the future.

"For college students, it's a time to form our opinions - elections can move us towards a more accepting society that can and will be able to change," said Smith.