UPDATE: Nov. 7, 5:52 a.m.

President Barack Obama took the stage at McCormick Place in Chicago on Tuesday night to the deafening chant of “four more years” and Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” blasting over speakers.

The thousands in the crowd got what they asked for. Obama won the election and will serve a second term.

The incumbent Democratic president surpassed Republican candidate and former Gov. Mitt Romney in battleground states Ohio and Virginia. These states were crucial in giving Obama more than the 270 electoral votes necessary to secure the presidency. As of 4 a.m. Wednesday, Obama had 303 electoral votes to Romney’s 206, with Florida and its 29 votes as the only state that had not been won.

Obama took the stage at McCormick Place in Chicago at 1:40 a.m. with his wife and two children by his side. His family left moments before he began to speak so that he could silently bask in the chants of the crowd.

“Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back,” Obama said. “We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America.”

Obama was first named the projected winner by NBC at 11:15 p.m. Tuesday. Other news sources followed suit after Obama’s projected win in the swing state of Ohio. While Romney was leading in Ohio until 9:39 p.m., Obama had a 4.7 percent lead by 9:56 p.m. He maintained a lead in Ohio for the rest of the night.

Romney gave a speech at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center at 12:55 a.m., conceding the presidency to Obama.

“I ran for office because I’m concerned about America,” Romney said. He acknowledged his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, emphatically discussing the dedication both he and Ryan gave to the campaign.

“I so wish I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead this country in a different direction,” Romney said.

Election night coverage was viewed in multiple locations around Syracuse University’s campus. The Schine Student Center streamed the polling results while students and faculty watched coverage at Hinds Hall and the Public Relations Student Society of America held an election viewing at the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium.

Megan Corbet, president of PRSSA and an Obama supporter, noted that during the streaming, she could see the room overwhelmingly supported the president.

“It was pretty solid for Obama,” said Corbet, a senior public relations and marketing dual major. “At the beginning we sort of got the feel for the room, and there wasn’t much response for Romney, but definitely a lot of support for Obama.”

In 2008, Obama’s win sparked a flurry of excitement at Syracuse University, with large celebrations on the Quad and on South Campus. But this year, that fervor was more tempered.

Jessica Nunez, a senior psychology and passionate Obama supporter, was surprised at her own lack of excitement when she received news of the win.

“I thought I’d be jumping around and screaming, but I’m just more calm and collected,” she said. “When it came down to it I was just more confident in knowing that Obama was going to win.”

For Natalie Alvarez, a junior public health major, the president’s dedication to helping future generations of college students was a main reason for her support. One of Obama’s goals is to double campus-based student aid during the next decade to cut tuition growth in half.

“He has great support for college students and his vision for the whole loaner’s payment,” Alvarez said.

But not everyone was happy with the outcome of the race. Romney supporters Michele Riola and Olivia Rotenberg, both junior accounting and finance majors, expressed concern for the future with Obama’s re-election.

“I’m kind of pissed,” Riola said. “(Obama)’s just going to continue on doing the same thing that he’s done for the last four years and that’s not going to be much change, really.”

Rotenberg said she was upset with the outcome, but not surprised. She said she saw the results coming. She said the economy was the biggest cause for fear, and said she was concerned that people might leave the country to find “better tax rates and better corporate governance.”

Several people on campus did not find themselves particularly enchanted with either candidate, causing them to make their decision based not on the merits of one candidate, but on the overwhelming faults of the other.

Matt Kalish, a senior aerospace engineering major, said he would have been surprised if Romney won the election.

“Both are lying sacks of sh*t, but Romney is more so,” said Kalish, a registered Independent.

Although Maddy Jones, a senior photojournalism and international relations major, has a deep interest in politics, she was not enthralled with Obama or Romney.

“I not really a fan of Obama, but I hate Mitt more. I care a lot about politics, so Obama was the less of the two evils.”

Jones was planning on voting, but her Pennsylvania absentee ballot was lost in the mail. She said she was surprised about how quickly the results came in.

“It was such a huge build up and it ended so quietly,” Jones said. “Tomorrow is just another, regular day.”

 

Published on November 7, 2012 at 6:00 am