Lauren Campbell
Crowds of Keene State College students from both sides of the political spectrum gathered late Wednesday night in the Young Student Center eagerly watching the results of the Nov. 6 Presidential election.
Students were separated in two different rooms of the Student Center, but both seemed just as excited as the other. Eyes were glued to the television screens, and cheering could be heard throughout the building.
The KSC Democrats gathered in the lounge area of the Student Center while the KSC Republicans watched in the Flag Room. Even though they were watching the coverage in separate places both parties seemed to have mixed emotions about the election.
“It’s chaos. (the election) It’s just a mad house. I’m not a big fan of election kind of things just because it’s so crazy and it brings out the worst in people,” said KSC junior Jon Adams.
Unlike Adams, some students were excited and had a clear reaction about the presidential election.
“”I’m definitely nervous, but hopeful” said KSC junior Hailey Brittan. On her choice of a presidential candidate she chose to vote for Governor Mitt Romney. “He’s on the same page as I am,” Brittan said.
One clear theme in this year’s election was the importance of young people getting out and casting their vote. Regardless of their political affiliations many students had this feeling.
“The election is obviously really important, and because we are on a campus it (the election) is also very publicized so younger voters can definitely be a part of everything.” said KSC junior Ashlei Ghgaliano. “The election is, the way I see it is a huge way to just crap on the other person. However that is what they’re supposed to do. So we will see how everything really pans out and what people really can do when someone gets in office.”
The importance of voting by KSC students was a hot topic during both of the viewing parties.
Junior Alyssa Nichols said, “Personally I’m not really that big into politics, but from what I’ve seen it’s really important to college students I’ve seen especially because the government in some ways pretty much provides our education and our education is the future.”
As for who these students voted for, they expressed openly who and why they voted for their candidate of choice.
“I voted absentee for Obama because I felt like he couldn’t get enough done in four years, and a lot of people kind of got on his back. You’ve only got so much time, and the House was kind of stacked against him. So I was like, ‘this guy needs another four years.’” said Adams.
Many of the students who were gathered said that they had a clear winner of the election..
“I think Obama is going to win. I think he just already has quite the following and I’ve heard more bad things about Mitt Romney than I’ve heard about Obama. So that’s how I’m basing it off of. We’ll see how it goes.” Ghgaliano said.
Adams added, “I have a pretty good feeling that Obama is going to win, but it seems like the polls have been very close. It seems like Romney keeps doing things and has to put his foot in his mouth.”
Students waited over a long night, and despite the KSC Republicans leaving early in defeat one major theme of this election was clear.
“We’re voting for ultimately our future. We are taking the steps to be those people, the main core age of people who will vote.” said Ghgaliano.
Additional information contributed by Hannah Sundell