Election

Last Tuesday will go down as a historic moment in American history with the election of the first African-American president, Barack Obama. The elections saw a huge turnout from citizens across the country, including voters in New Hampshire.

According to CNN Election Center 2008, the Democrats swept the race in New Hampshire. President-elect Obama received 55% of the vote, while Republican presidential candidate John McCain received 45%. Democratic Governor John Lynch won re-election with 70% of the vote, while Joseph Kenney got 28%. Jean Shaheen received 52% of the vote, allowing her to defeat Republican incumbent John Sununu. In the first congressional district, Carol Shea-Porter won with 52% of the vote. In the second congressional district, Republican incumbent Paul Hodes won with 57% of the vote.

According to a poll done by the Pierce Media Group, under the title FP U Decide, students on campus were largely in favor of Obama as their presidential candidate.

Sophomore Melissa Koszer said she voted for Obama and believes the majority of Franklin Pierce students support him. "I have very liberal ideas, and Obama shares my ideas on social issues - abortion, stem cell research, and gay rights."

Simon Dreyfuss, who worked as a volunteer for McCain, had mixed feelings about the results. "It was a mix between pride, knowing where our country has come from to where it is now, and obvious disappoint because I feel John McCain was a great man and would have made a great president."

Although he is not a supporter of Obama, Dreyfuss acknowledges the success of his campaign. "There is an overwhelming amount of support for Obama on campus because of his message of change. I think he did a great job in reaching out to the youth vote," said Dreyfuss.

While there was a good amount of support for the democratic presidential candidate, some students felt that neither candidate supported their views on the issues most important to them.

"I didn't feel compelled to vote either way. It came down to two important issues: abortion and foreign policy. Obama was for abortion and McCain's foreign policy was far too aggressive in regards to Iran," said Junior Caroline Smullen. If she had voted, Smullen said she would have written in Ron Paul.

Students on campus were provided scheduled transportation to the local polling center in Rindge. Here they had the opportunity to register inside before voting.

According to David Tower, the Rindge Town Moderator, there were an increased number of voters in Rindge this year. Towers saw an increase in the student vote, which he believes was due in part to the pre-registration effort, and the transportation provided by the university.

Polling centers in Jaffrey and Peterborough also saw a similar increase in student voters. Bill Sweet, Director of Judicial Affairs at Franklin Pierce, was working as the Supervisor for the Checklist in the town. He noticed the increase in younger voters, but saw that the majority of voters were still citizens around 30 to 50 years of age.

All three polling centers had the usual supporters standing outside, urging citizens to vote for their candidates. There were many supporters representing both sides of the political spectrum.

"Obama is a more stable and logical candidate," said democratic supporter Karl Eruter, "Biden has experience and good insight and will make a great addition."

Eruter supports Obama's message of change and believes democratic candidate Jean Shaheen will bring that message to the Senate. "Sununu inherited his job. We need support in the Senate for change," said Eruter.

Local McCain supporters were afraid that Obama would bring socialism to our nation and were concerned about his past connections. One supporter said she was voting on the basis of her Christian values and believes that Obama "is a liar."

Her husband shares her beliefs and wants an "old traditional America." He does not want to see people's hard earned work given to those who do not deserve it. "Spreading the wealth is not kindness," he said.

While there was a lot of division among supporters on Election Day, there was little confrontation between supporters of different candidates. Yet according to the Rindge Police Department there were many cases of politically charged vandalism prior. This mainly included the destruction of political signs that were placed around the town.