Student reactions vary to two-term President Obama

The reaction on the UW-River Falls campus to President Barack Obama maintaining his position of Commander-in-Chief is mixed.

For one student, Obama’s victory over Mitt Romney, was a way out of a potentially worse situation.

“Well I normally vote Republican, but I actually wanted Obama to win in this case merely because four years from now we can vote for a Republican that’s not Romney; he rubbed me the wrong way,” said UWRF student Steven Aiken.

“The principles were pretty on as far as Republicans go, but it just came down to his character, who he was versus some of the other Republican candidates that I thought would be better. I just thought he wasn’t the right Republican for this time.”

The feeling that Obama would win began early in the political game for Associate Political Science Professor Neil Kraus. After following different election polls, he was able to form some indicators of who would win.

“Some of the states’ results I was more surprised about, but not so much the presidential,” said Kraus.

A member of the College Democrats also predicted Obama’s win.

“I would have been really shocked [if he didn’t win]. I think just because of how many things were said by the Republican Party that were just ridiculous, like the 47 percent thing and all the things about rape,” said Emily Wilcoxson, a College Democrat on campus.
She admitted toward the beginning of the counting that, “it was really nerve racking, but then once more and more states came in it was really exciting.”

Even with this win, a couple of UWRF students have increased their expectations of Obama.

“I guess he got handed kind of a crap show, so I’m glad he’s got another four years to see what he can do with it. I expect a lot of from him, which I think is deserving, and I guess I’m just not about changing horses in the middle of a stream,” said Jerome McNamara.
“I voted for Obama. I think he was the right choice. I think both of them had good ideas, but I just think four years isn’t long enough to make the change that we need for the size and scope of our government and economy- four years wasn’t enough,” said Joshua Gunderson.
These expectations are that he continues pursuing the issues he finds important.

“I think healthcare needs to be tweaked pretty hardcore still. Other than that, I’d like to see some jobs created, that was the one thing that Romney would do if he was elected. I’m going to graduate relatively soon - again. I had a hard time finding a job the first time, so we’ll see what happens I guess,” said McNamara.

Wilcoxson said she thinks that Obama will be looking at women’s rights, birth control, gay rights and energy independence with a green energy focus now that he has renewed his office position.

Kraus made a note that while he did not want to call Obama’s next moves, he thought a few things would stand out in the next four years government wide.

“Well, I think the main thing for not just the president but the Congress is to deal with tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of the year and the debt sealing because they both have to be dealt with by the end of the calendar year,” said Kraus. “Beyond that, these questions about the budget deficit are going to be dominating the next year or so and how things go.”