Joe PelletierThoughts from news editor Matt Ciepielowski:
Glad to see McCain get crushed tonight. Maybe the GOP will finally open its eyes and return to fiscal conservatism and small government. If it continues running only big government or bible-thumping candidates, the party has no future, and I have to believe there are plenty of party officials that realize that.
Thoughts from sports editor Andrew McDermott:
I am glad to see that the nation has made up its mind in such strong fashion. It’s great to see a record number of people taking action. However, I am against the way America leaned. I have been pro-McCain since McCain won the Republican primaries, and I am disappointed to see so many people feel otherwise. While record numbers of people have registered to vote and actually voted today, there is still a major problem. Many people voted without being educated voters. Maybe the results would have been different if more people had researched prior to voting. While Obama crushed McCain in the electoral college votes (333-146 as of 11:34 p.m.), he only won the popular vote by 2.5 million (41.5 million to 39 million). This raises the question, is it time to move past the electoral college voting system?
Good luck to President Obama. To my fellow Republicans, there’s always the next election…
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CNN, MSNBC, and NBC News have now declared that Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States after projecting his victory in California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii.
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Well, the party was wrapped up in Alumni Hall, as facilities needed to clean up and prepare for an event tomorrow.
But the show indeed goes on, as MSNBC predicted McCain to win Oklahoma. McCain is also projected to win Texas.
More than half of the national precincts are now reporting, with Obama winning 51 percent to McCain’s 48 percent national.
Third parties have not had success this year. In Georgia, Libertarian Bob Barr has only 1 percent of his home state votes. Unwilling independent Ron Paul is coming in third in Louisiana with just under 7,000 votes.
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Latest out of Massachusetts: The decriminalization of marijuana was passed, making possession of less than an ounce of marijuana punishable by only a fine of $100.
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The Democratic party now has control of the Senate, with more than 50 of the 100 seats. To gain the filibuster block, they will need six more seats.
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On the local front, Connecticut is currently 61 percent for Barack Obama with 48 percent of the vote reported.
The referendum question of a Constitutional Convention for Connecticut looks like it will fail with 60 percent of the vote going against it.
The other referendum question, to allow anyone who will be 18 at the time of the general election to vote in the primary, is currently on pace to pass with 64.5 percent of the vote.
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Thoughts from managing editor Joe Pelletier:
It has been a long day. And a long night, for that matter. And as of the latest numbers, it seems that Barack Obama is going to be the next president. I may not be a Wolf Blitzer or Karl Rove, but I do know how to listen–and of late, all the voices are pushing Obama. The students, the political analysts–even some Republicans are conceding that it appears to be going Obama’s way.
But anything can happen. Let’s enjoy the ride.
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In the pinnacle moment of the Alumni Hall event, the winner was…Blanka Balazs. We’re speaking, of course, of the Guitar Hero raffle that occurred at 10:15 in Alumni Hall.
In the meanwhile, Obama has hit the 200 mark in projected electoral votes, while McCain is hovering around 95.
In the latest numbers, Obama has a slight lead in Arizona, McCain’s home state.
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Roberto Passaro, founder of Young Americans for Liberty’s Quinnipiac chapter, stopped by the Alumni Hall Election Party, and gave his thoughts on the candidates:
“Barack Obama equals four more years of Bush. I disagree with him on healthcare, the education, and the economy. I actually agree with him on the War in Iraq though.
“I don’t like John McCain’s stance on Iraq. I don’t believe that he will follow through with his economic promises. I don’t like how he says he will eliminate porkbarrel spending even though he was guilty of it himself in Congress.”
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Obama projected to win New Mexico; applause from the Alumni Hall crowd.
McCain projected to win Louisiana; scattered boos fill the air.
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A resounding round of applause for Obama in Alumni Hall as the Democrat is projected to win Ohio, giving him an additional 20 key electoral votes.
Meanwhile, McCain has a slight edge in Texas (34 electoral votes) as votes continue to trickle in.
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As expected by many political analysts, Barack Obama’s projected lead has grown larger and larger. CNN gives Obama 174 electoral votes to John McCain’s 64.
Obama appears to have taken New Hampshire, a key state in many prior presidential elections.
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The Chronicle set up shop at the Election Party in Alumni Hall, and received some thoughts from Mark Bouchard, president of the QU Democrats.
“We thought (this event) was a very good way to finish and capitalize on a very exciting political season, a season that has seen so much college involvement,” he said. “We figured one last celebration–it’s a great way to mark the end of the season, and hopefully celebrate a victory.
“I’m a junior, so over the years i’ve seen more and more politically interested students. There’s more and more classes involved with politics, and there’s a lot of signs that we are becoming more and more political. Also, I’ve seen the Democrats grow over the years and become more involved–they’ve become members outside of the meetings.”
As for the turnout tonight, Bouchard knew that many students had homework and classes to deal with, but hoped they could take a break to see history happen.
“We’re hoping for a decent turnout. I know a lot of people have been bogged down with work, but hopefully we can get some people to show up and learn something. One minute into the event, we’re seeing a great turnout.”
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Q&A with QU sophomore Alex Birsh:
Q: So Alex, if you could sum up the past few months of politics in America in one word, what wouid it be:
A: Enigmatic. You just don’t know who stands for what sometimes. You don’t know the facts–when you see all these fact-checkers, it makes you really nervous. It makes you question the validity of anything the candidates say. I laughed so hard when I saw the fact-checker after the debate. Not only that, we’re in such a different age today than a few months, it almost turned the election on its ear. Right now, the one thing that people are voting for the fact that the future will be different. They’re voting for change.
Q: How has Quinnipiac seemed politically, to you, over the past few days?
A: Frankly, it hasn’t been that much different. We get knocked as an apathetic campus, and to me it isn’t inaccurate. You don’t see any demonstrations or anything on campus. You see it on Facebook, and you could say that a semi-okay swap to the Internet in political interest. It’s tricky.
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Words from campus news editor Matt Ciepielowski on the election:
Over the course of this campaign season, we’ve seen both candidates go more and more negative. I view this as an acknowledgement that neither candidate sees eye to eye with the average American enough to actually appeal to a large portion on the electorate.
The McCain campaign hasn’t been so much a pro-McCain campaign as it has been an anti-Obama campaign, and the same goes for Obama’s campaign.
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The projected votes now give Barack Obama 103 electoral votes to John McCain’s 34. McCain is the projected winner of South Carolina, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Obama, however, is expected to take most of the Northeast region, as he is expected to take the District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, among others.
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The latest numbers from CNN project that Democratic candidate Barack Obama will win Vermont, which carries three electoral votes. John McCain is projected to win the eight electoral votes of Kentucky.
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On the Quinnipiac front, an Election Night Party will be held in Alumni Hall at 9 p.m. This event is sponsored by the QU Democrats.
