President-elect Barack Obama's victory can be attributed to his hard work in swing states, James Thurber, a School of Public Affairs professor, said during a post-election analysis forum Wednesday.
The forum touched on many topics surrounding the outcome of the election. Each panelist gave about a 10-15 minute speech on different aspects of the election and the campaign of both candidates.
The event began with the topic of battleground states. Obama set up more offices in crucial battleground states than McCain did, Thurber said.
"He dominated the ground," he said. "In Virginia, Obama had 71 offices to McCain's 20. In Florida McCain had 75, by the end Obama had over 100. And in Ohio, Obama had 81 to 52. Obama did great training for community organizers."
Kiki McLean, principal of the Dewey Square Group, discussed the pivotal places and moments about the election.
"Losing New Hampshire was pivotal [for Obama], since it made [his] campaign rethink and become stronger," she said. "Also, the economic collapse worked for him having the public trust in the Democrats in hard economic times. Finally, [his] four week strategy worked hard to get out early voting and absentee ballots."
Candice Nelson, director of the Campaign Management Institute and an SPA professor, said Obama's campaign was effective because he had a plan from the beginning.
"Obama understood early voting and that more people are voting early," she said. "30 percent of people did early voting, so there might be a push for legislation to get early voting in more states, [and] thus effect future campaigns."
The event drew a fairly large crowd, which was testament to how politically involved students are, Thurber said.
"I thought the turnout was fabulous," he said. "It showed how engaged AU students are in politics. I have been here for 34 years, I have done this about eight times after an election, and this is the best turnout we ever had."
Erin Waters, a freshman in the School of Communication, said she thought the event gave people a glimpse of AU faculty's perspective on the election.
"I understand now how important the youth vote played in this election," she said.
The event was a great way to end the election season, according to Amanda Lotz, a freshman in the School of International Service.
"I think they were very honest about what they had to say and very informative," she said. "The event overall was good and a nice follow up to a good election."
The Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies sponsored the event.
You can reach this writer at news@theeagleonline.com.
