On Nov. 2, many Americans arrived at polling institutions all over the nation to cast their ballots for the next president of the United States.

It was a tough and very close race between Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry.

The race went long into the night and continued into Wednesday morning when Kerry conceded the election to Bush.

“I spoke to President Bush and I offered him and Laura our congratulations on their victory,” Kerry said during his speech on Wednesday at Fanueil Hall.

“We had a good conversation and we talked about the danger of division in our country and the need — the desperate need for unity, for finding the common ground, coming together.”

“America has spoken, and I’m humbled by the trust and the confidence of my fellow citizens,” Bush said during his re-election acceptance speech at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.

“With that trust comes a duty to serve all Americans, and I will do my best to fulfill that duty every day as your president.”

“In four historic years, America has been given great tasks, and faced them with strength and courage,” Bush said.

“Our people have restored the vigor of this economy, and shown resolve and patience in a new kind of war. Our military has brought justice to the enemy, and honor to America.”

“Our nation has defended itself, and served the freedom of all mankind. I’m proud to lead such an amazing country, and I’m proud to lead it forward.”

The reactions to the 2004 presidential election have been mixed. Some students here at Quinnipiac are pleased because of the re-election of President Bush, while others feel disappointed in Kerry’s loss.

“I am elated by the results, and I am even more excited because I believe President Bush received a strong mandate for his policies,” Leif Parsell, senior history and political science major, said.

“I am also very happy because I believe the majority of the Democratic party, which included those who attempted to get more people to vote like Bruce Springsteen, Michael Moore, P. Diddy and others, assumed that if more people voted, their values and beliefs would prevail. They were wrong and I feel vindicated, as I believe the president does.”

“The results make me extremely unhappy,” Stephanie Fallar, sophomore political science major, said in response to the election. “As a Democrat I had a lot of faith in my candidate and none in the incumbent.”

“I thought the American people had enough over the past four years of lies, living in fear and awful leadership, however I was wrong and now we can only hope for the best.

“I am very pleased with the results of the election, especially because there was not the same controversy over the votes as there was in 2000. Bush won this election fair and square and no Democrat can doubt that,” Brittany Sanders, sophomore political science major said.

“I feel pissed off, disappointed and angry. I hate Bush and I don’t believe anything he says,” Ben Handelman, sophomore broadcast journalism major, said.

“He’s going to continue what he’s doing and I don’t think much more progress will happen. People won’t be coming home anytime soon.”

“I’m very happy with the results of the election,” Landon Potts, senior management major, said.

“I think Bush has done very well. My brothers are both in the marines and he has been very supportive of them,”

“I’m less than thrilled. I can’t say I’ve been impressed with Bush. I can’t imagine him pulling us out of the war with out an incentive. I’m worried about the next four years but there’s always 2008,” Kelly Baccash, junior media production major, said.

“I wanted Bush to win. He will continue to do what he has been doing. Bush will do better on terrorism than Kerry would have done,” Anthony Cintorino, sophomore business undeclared major, said.

“I feel unhappy. I don’t think Bush is going to change or improve anything if he hasn’t already. That is why I voted against him,” Dina Hamel, freshman legal studies major, said in response to the election.

“I’m actually a Bush fan, I was really happy with what happened. Voting went up by a significant amount,” Krystal Ristaino, senior marketing major, said.

“I think Bush will take a different approach in the next four years and be more open minded.”

“I’m really upset about the elections, but I think it was very admirable how Kerry gave up Ohio to unite the country. I like Kerry because he supports stem cell research. Bush won’t deal with that issue,” Krysti Bergeron, senior physical therapy major, said in regards to the election.

“I feel Bush will protect the country better than Kerry would,” Peter Jung, freshman computer science major, said.

“Kerry is not really a leader and Bush is. Homeland security is important to me and Bush will handle it the way he has been. I’m happy Bush won.”

“I am angry because Bush will keep us in the war as long as he can,” Adrienne Kubacki, sophomore physical therapy major, said.

“Bush will do a lot better than he did in the past because he knows what he needs to get done,” Laura Vander Veer, sophomore business major, said.

“I hope he will pull the troops out as soon as possible because he knows people are unhappy.”

“I was surprised because I thought the results were going to go another way. I had no idea the West was so anti-Kerry,” Laura Aboulafia, senior physical therapy major, said.

“I don’t want there to be a draft. We don’t have that many boys here at Quinnipiac, so we can’t send them off to war.”

“The election results didn’t bother me because I didn’t vote. I didn’t want either candidate. Kerry had already won New Jersey and Connecticut so I didn’t see a reason to vote,” Matt Ganguzza, age 19, Business major said.

“I think Bush will do a good job in the next four years, I feel that he is going to work hard on establishing a better relationship with the Democrats like he did in the beginning of his last term when he worked with Senator Ted Kennedy on the No Child Left Behind Act,” Sanders said. “Many Democrats were bitter over the 2000 election because of the issue in Florida, but since that was not the case in this election I feel that Bush may be able to rejoin the parties.”
“The next four years will be hard for the people who feel strongly against bush, however in terms of the presidency I think that if the next term is anything like the last, we will see either nothing new, or our democracy will just get turned over by the republicans,” Faller said. “I strongly believe that the years to come will deplete our nation’s economy and everyone will see each and every promise Mr. Bush has made never fulfilled like in the past. If the American people want another four years, well they got it and it’s going to be another bumpy ride.”

“Because we have done the hard work, we are entering a season of hope,” President Bush said during his speech on Wednesday afternoon. “We’ll continue our economic progress. Reform the outdated tax code. We’ll strengthen the Social Security for the next generation. We’ll make public schools all they can be, and we will uphold our deepest values of family and faith.”

“I am happy Bush won because he is very religious. It is important to have morality in our leaders,” Joseph Crane, age 18, Business major said.

“The main thing was to get Bush out and it didn’t happen. We needed a change because I think Bush will embarrass the U.S.,” Jacky Hunt, age 22, English major said.

“I’m not happy because either way we are screwed. I didn’t like either one of the candidates,” Christine Aliberti, age 18, Occupational Therapy major said.

“During the next four years there will most likely be an extension of No Child Left Behind into high schools. This will help Americans to compete better on the world market. Competition is what has built European/American Civilization for the last 2500 years,” Parsell said. “Bush will benefit the economy by maintaining low taxes and pro-growth, pro-education policies.”

“By Bush being in office for the next four years the economy will continue to become worse, employment will decrease and many jobs will be lost,” Faller said. “The education system will continue to leave “children left behind” and although the President says he put funding into the “No Child Left Behind” Act there are still many children who need his help and he continues to ignore the future of tomorrow and he will continue for the next four years.”

The final tallies show that Bush received 286 of the necessary 270 electoral votes to win the election, while Kerry received 252. Although the results of the election may be enjoyable for some and distressing for others both candidates agree that it is necessary to strive for unity in this country. America has voted and President Bush has responded with a message of opportunity and desire to reach out to the nation.

“I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent: To make this nation stronger and better I will need your support, and I will work to earn it,” President Bush concluded in his speech. “I will do all I can to deserve your trust. A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation. We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America.””I don’t want there to be a draft. We don’t have that many boys here at Quinnipiac, so we can’t send them off to war.”

“The election results didn’t bother me because I didn’t vote,” Matt Ganguzza, sophomore business major, said.

“I didn’t want either candidate. Kerry had already won New Jersey and Connecticut so I didn’t see a reason to vote.”

“The next four years will be hard for the people who feel strongly against Bush; however, in terms of the presidency I think that if the next term is anything like the last, we will see either nothing new, or our democracy will just get turned over by the Republicans,” Faller said.

“I strongly believe that the years to come will deplete our nation’s economy and everyone will see each and every promise Mr. Bush has made never fulfilled like in the past. If the American people want another four years, well they got it and it’s going to be another bumpy ride.”

“Because we have done the hard work, we are entering a season of hope,” President Bush said during his speech on Wednesday afternoon.

“We’ll continue our economic progress. Reform the outdated tax code. We’ll strengthen the Social Security for the next generation. We’ll make public schools all they can be, and we will uphold our deepest values of family and faith.”

“I am happy Bush won because he is very religious. It is important to have morality in our leaders,” Joseph Crane, freshman business major, said.

“The main thing was to get Bush out and it didn’t happen. We needed a change because I think Bush will embarrass the U.S.,” Jacky Hunt, senior english major, said.

“I’m not happy because either way we are screwed. I didn’t like either one of the candidates,” Christine Aliberti, freshman occupational therapy major, said.

“During the next four years there will most likely be an extension of No Child Left Behind into high schools. This will help Americans to compete better on the world market. Competition is what has built European/American Civilization for the last 2,500 years,” Parsell said.

“Bush will benefit the economy by maintaining low taxes and pro-growth, pro-education policies.”

“By Bush being in office for the next four years the economy will continue to become worse, employment will decrease and many jobs will be lost,” Faller said.

“The education system will continue to leave “children left behind” and although the president says he put funding into the “No Child Left Behind” Act there are still many children who need his help and he continues to ignore the future of tomorrow and he will continue for the next four years.”

The final tallies show that Bush received 286 of the necessary 270 electoral votes to win the election, while Kerry received 252.

Although the results of the election may be enjoyable for some and distressing for others both candidates agree that it is necessary to strive for unity in this country. America has voted and President Bush has responded with a message of opportunity and desire to reach out to the nation.

“I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent: To make this nation stronger and better I will need your support, and I will work to earn it,” President Bush concluded in his speech.

“I will do all I can to deserve your trust. A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation. We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America.”