Students split on Bush win

The country was almost equally divided between supporting President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry for president. After a 14-hour wait, it was announced Wednesday at 2 p.m. that Bush would serve another four years.

From happiness to devastation, the reaction of USF students to Bush’s victory varies.

Andrew Winquist, pleased with the outcome, is optimistic about the future.

“Hopefully, Bush will lead us through the war and problems at home,” he said.

On the contrary, Sidney Moore, suspicious of the Bush campaign, is disappointed about Bush’s re-election.

“It was my first time voting and a lot of other minorities. I just hope this doesn’t deter future minority voters from participating in politics,” said Moore, who vowed he will continue to vote in the future.

The outcome of the election inspired College Democrats President John Duddy to resign from his position, withdraw from school and make plans to move to Canada.

“There’s no point in party affiliation in this country,” Duddy said. “The Republicans have a lock on this country.”

Duddy predicts that in the next four years, the Roe vs. Wade court decision supporting abortion will be overturned, environmental regulations will be a thing of the past, the United States will be on multiple war fronts, and there will be a draft.

“The Patriot Act will strengthen to the point where McCarthyism will seem like a welcomed alternative,” Duddy said, completing his political forecast. “Students around the country who didn’t vote are pathetic and will pay for it for the next 30-40 years,”

Senior Patrick McKinley was up until 2 a.m. waiting to hear the result of the elections.

“I really thought Kerry was going to pull through –well, I was hoping,” he said. “It’s a real shame that we’re going to have to deal with Bush and his incompetence for four more years. Just the fact that he won popular vote makes me wonder about the rest of the country.”

But the President of College Republicans, Matt Strenth, is optimistic about the outcome of the election.

“It’s going to be a great next four years for America, with President Bush in office,” Strenth said. “I think Bush has a message of hope. I think people will get better jobs and he will put policies in place that will promote economic growth.”

Around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, after observing the exit polls leaning toward Kerry, Strenth said he became worried about the turnout of the election. After the polls closed and precincts began reporting, however, Strenth said he regained his surety.

“From the time I saw the real votes coming in, I was pretty confident all the way that President Bush was going to win,” he said.

Some students are just happy Election Day has ended.

“I’m excited that it’s over with,” said Jessie Hagy, who is pleased that Bush won.

Allison Rhodes, who voted for Kerry, is not disappointed with Bush’s win.

“I’m not unhappy about the outcome; my favorite part was to see so many people getting passionate about what they believe in,” she said.

“The only thing that scares me about Bush is his extreme conservatism, I think any extreme in any direction tends to be dangerous.”