Pamela Bump & Allison Lamell
Equinox Staff
With the Nov. 6, 2012 Presidential Election only days away, incumbent President Barack Obama is the most popular candidate amongst 500 Keene State College students informally surveyed in the recent campus wide Presidential Tracking poll.
Out of the students polled, roughly 69 percent stated that they would vote for President Obama at the time they were interviewed. Obama showed a slight decrease between the first and second student-wide polls, as he went from being the choice among 74 percent of students to being only popular amongst 68 percent of student respondents.
Sophomore Amanda Inglese said, “I like his tactics and Obamacare, and his stance on gay marriage and abortion. I also believe everyone has the right to choose.”
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“I feel as though Obama has a better sense of what this country needs economically. He’s also fulfilled some of his biggest promises,” a student said.
Junior Gabby Gentillella said, “I believe he [Obama] is on the right path to lead the U.S. in the right direction. – He cares.”
“I think he’s doing well with Obamacare and can fix things in his next term,” freshman Rodrigo Piriz said. Piriz added, “I’m just trying to vote for the better person.”
Some students in the recent poll explained that they would vote for Obama, claiming that he was the “lesser of two evils.” Senior Carrie Hall, who plans on voting for Obama, also said, “I’m not totally a fan, but he’s better than Romney.”
Alex Littlefield, a freshman, shared that, “His [Obama’s] lies are more believable than Mitt’s.”
Many students identified Obama as their choice for president for his views on social issues, such as women’s rights. Many also shared that they felt they could relate to the current President more than his Republican opponent, Governor Mitt Romney.
Romney, although he has been behind in student popularity, has gained an increase from week to week. During the first week of polling, roughly 14 percent of polled students said they would vote for Romney.
In the second week, about 20 percent of students stated that they would vote for the governor. In total, roughly 17 percent of student respondents said that they would vote for Romney at the time of their interview. Sophomore Chase Lancaster said, “I agree with what he [Romney] wants to do and I don’t like Obama’s vision.”
Another student added similarly, “I don’t like Obama and I feel like the change he said was going to happen never did.” Students explained that they would vote for Romney for mainly economic reasons.
Most often in the polling results, students explained who did not approve of Romney for president explained that they disagreed with his social views on topics such as women’s rights and his statements about cutting from Planned Parenthood. Ben Johnson, junior said, “I don’t believe in Mitt Romney’s ‘America.’”
Senior, Anthony Mariano said, “Romney wants to increase taxes on the middle class and that’s the category I fit into.”
“Obama shared my beliefs and the other candidate is against all of my beliefs,” junior Molly Palmer explained.
Junior Lauren Tetreault added, “I don’t think Romney would make a good president. He’s very flip-floppy.” Although many students distinguished which candidate they would prefer to vote for, a large number of students polled were self-described independent voters.
Approximately 57 percent of students polled stated that they were “Independent.” A majority of students said that they could not choose a specific side and agreed and disagreed with views from both. About 21 percent of students sided with the Democratic Party and 12.6 percent sided with the Republican Party.
A recurring comment among students who stated that they were independent was that they “vote for the person, not for the party.”
Out of the total sample of informally polled students, 382 students or 76.4 percent said that they plan to vote the Nov. 6 election. Roughly 43 percent were already registered at the time of their informal interview.
The Presidential tracking polls were given during the weeks of Oct. 1 and Oct. 15 by KSC Print Journalism students. Within the sample of 500, students polled were equally split up into freshman, sophomore, junior and senior students of voting age. The top issues students noted in the election included healthcare, economy, education and its costs and equal rights. Roughly 32 percent of students polled were in-state college students.
Another major change involving the issue of youth voice was brought up in detail throughout the presidential tracking poll. In the first group of polled students, many remained unsure about how strong their voice was while many others were concerned of the youth’s role in the election.
In the most recent group of students polled, those who were concerned about the youth voice often indicated that the weakness in it was due to students being unaware of what was going on in the political world.
Molly Palmer also added that the youth voice was, “important, but we don’t know it, and take it for granted.” One student said, “We are the next generation. We have to realize that we control our own destiny.”
“Young people must make their voices heard if they want to see change,” sophomore Christie Pitino added similarly about the youth voice. Respondents also oppositely stated that they were “optimistic” about their voice in this election.
Cara Logerfo, a sophomore shared, “I think people have definitely spoken out this year and gotten the word out. This election definitely affects a lot of young people, so I feel they are more active.”
Those wishing to vote in the upcoming election can meet at Hoot ‘n Scoot starting at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6, Election Day, for free transportation to and from the polling station. Transportation will be running throughout the day until polls close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night.
Pamela Bump can be contacted at pbump@keene-equinox.com and Allison Lamell can be contacted alamell@ksc.keene.edu