Correction Appended
AU students packed into the Tavern Tuesday night for the Election Night Extravaganza expressed a broad range of emotions as election results indicated voters had elected Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as the nation's 44th president.
Obama had received 349 electoral votes and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had 163 as of press time Wednesday, according to CNN projections. Obama led in North Carolina's tabulations, while McCain led in Missouri. (story continued below)
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In America's EyesANDREW TOMLINSON / THE EAGLE **Disclaimer** This video was shot in the moment as news was breaking. As a result the report out of VCU about fraud was unconfirmed and was reported in the moment. These reports are still unconfirmed and there has been no information to back those claims up. **Disclaimer** |
"The turnout is clearly more for Obama here," said Steve Dalton, a junior in the School of Public Affairs who said he supported McCain.
Most of the students in attendance watched CNN's election coverage from a projected screen at the front of the room. Others gathered around TVs scattered across the room showing coverage from other stations, including Fox News Channel, NBC and C-SPAN. Many students also watched online coverage on their laptops.
The Campus Store set up a table that was selling election-related items, including buttons and figures of the candidates. The store had been selling the products throughout the election season to make money and to get the youth to vote, according to Dylan Hoffman, the store's senior accountant.
"We've sold overwhelmingly for Obama," he said.
ATV and German national broadcast network Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) broadcasted live from the event.
ZDF broadcasted from an area outside of the Tavern's entrance. The network wanted to broadcast from a university to get a young person's point of view, according to producer Britta Reuther.
"We're amazed at the reactions," she said. "This generation is so involved."
Reuther said the election was being widely followed in Germany and most Germans wanted Obama to win.
"It seems as important as an election in the home country," she said. "People thought many things were not going in the right direction. We all look at the U.S. and we want to have it as a role model."
Kennedy Political Union Director Bill DeBaun said he was pleased with the event's coverage. KPU, the Student Government and the AU College Democrats co-sponsored the event. Event planners chose CNN for the main screen because they felt it would be more balanced or have more graphics than other options.
DeBaun also said he thought the event as a whole was a success.
"This is exactly what I envisioned," he said.
As the election results came in, many students said they were surprised by some of the outcomes.
"I'm in shock at how soon [Ohio] was called," said Jon Baker, a sophomore in SPA. "I'm excited at how it finally went blue."
Stephanie Bancroft, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she expected to receive calls and text messages from friends in the United Kingdom when the results were announced.
"I'm going for a train-wreck election," she said.
Dalton said he was disappointed as the results were called.
"I can't take a Barack Obama win," he said around 8:30 p.m. "But right now it's not looking good."
When CNN announced Obama had enough electoral votes to win the election, some students clapped and cheered loudly for more than five minutes, occasionally breaking into chants of "Obama!" or "Yes we can!" Some Bon Appetit employees danced and jumped up and down; some students began to cry after the projection came in.
Although many students left after the results were announced, others stayed to watch McCain and Obama's speeches. The crowd fell silent during most of McCain's concession speech, but some students clapped at some points and some booed when McCain thanked his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Students also clapped and cheered during Obama's victory speech.
ZDF claimed there were more than 1,000 people in its chat room during the event, despite the fact that it was 5 a.m. when the winner was announced in Germany, according to DeBaun.
"It was great to be able to host them and show what a politically active campus we have," he said.
You can reach this writer at news@theeagleonline.com.
Correction: In the corrections from the Nov. 10 issue, The Eagle incorrectly corrected the listing of organizations that co-sponsored the Nov. 4 Election Night Extravaganza. The organizations that co-sponsored the event are: The Student Government, AU College Democrats, AU College Republicans, AU Students for Obama, AU Students for McCain, SAVE, Alpha Nu Omega, Inc. and AU NAACP.
