NOVEMBER 12, 2008 | THE MEREDITH HERALD • Educating Women to Excel \ VOL XXVI • ISSUE 8
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OBAMA ELECTED PRESIDENT
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by Morgan Ericson
Staff Writer
With Obama’s victory as president
elect on Nov. 5,2008, consumer psy
chologists watched as the Obamas’
favorites, such as Fran’s Chocolates,
J. Crew, and Nicorette gum, became
the must-haves for his constituents.
Eight swing states later and with 349
electoral votes, celebrations erupted
in his father’s native Kenyan home,
Obama’s hometown Chicago and
even India. Nelson Mandela and
Nicolas Sarkozy issued congratula
tory letters, and celebrity recogni
tion ranged from ‘Oprah unleashed’
to Madonna and Hugo Chavez,
who attributed Venezuela’s “era of
change” to Obama’s victory.
Unfortunately, there has been
an outpour of negative attention,
threats and, for some, a continued
feeling of gloom. Russia’s Presi
dent Dmitry Medvedev promised
to deploy missiles if Obama utilizes
an anti-missile system installed in
the Czech Republic. Two white su
premacists, Daniel Cowart and Paul
Schlesselman of Tennessee, were
indicted after authorities discovered
their sawed-off shotguns and con
spiracy to assassinate Obama and
behead other African Americans.
How did Obama arrive at his vic
tory? By turning red states blue. He
won eight states that had voted for
President Bush in 2004, Indiana,
Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New
Mexico, Virginia, and Colorado. In
heavily Democratic suburban areas,
voters turned out more than before,
and the percentage of black voters
also increased.
According to the Wall Street Jour
nal, 66% of 18-29 year-olds favored
Obama/Biden over McCain/Palin, a
recorded figure of youth voting that
has not been matched since 1976.
Mots coutlesy The New Yotk Times
Also, in battleground states such
as Ohio, Indiana, and Florida, col
lege towns saw increases by 92% in
young adult voters. We represented
18% of the electorate whereas our
elders, those 65 and over, only rep
resented 16%. This shift has already
aflected how future candidates will
have to campaign and leads politi
cal analysis to speculate how voting
power could be shifting away from
the Baby Boomers as they ease
into retirement.
By the time this article is published,
Obama will probably have appoint
ed many members of his cabinet and
have held a conference to publicize
his next steps as president-elect. For
pnolo coude^y oAsma.sensfe.goi'
those still caught up in all the hate
speeches and propaganda that have
been infiltrating our televisions for
the past months, it might be difficult
to remember Obama’s stance on is
sues and various priorities. Accord
ing to CNN’s election issues page,
Obama supports the following:
Economy
Obama supported the Wall Street
bailout package, believing an emer
gency rescue plan to be necessary.
He advocates reforms for “new
oversight of investment banks, more
disclosure by financial firms...and
more consistent rules that apply to
all financial institutions...”
Obama also advocates Congress’
extension of unemployment for
13 weeks to support families af
fected the most by the economic
crisis. Both Biden and Obama be
lieve in investing more money in
infrastructures—highways, bridg
es, etc.—as a way to create more
jobs. Biden advocates tax breaks for
small businesses.
Iraq
Obama advocates complete removal
of troops by summer of 2010. He
See OBAMA, PAGE 2
Green Tip for
the Week of
October 27
Install compact fluores
cent light bulbs, which
use 60 percent less
energy and last longer.
During the 2008-09 academic
year, Meredith College’s cam
pus theme is “Sustaining our
Environment: Developing
our Greenprint." To help the
Meredith community make
daily choices that are ben
eficial to the environment,
Angels for the Environment
have compiled a year’s worth
of tips for greener living.
To view green tips from
previous weeks, visit www.
meredith.edu/campus-theme/
environmental'tips.htm.