TAMIU votes diversely yet offers support collectively

A feeling of electricity ran through the air at TAMIU on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008. Whether it was a quiet whisper coming from a stunned student or a loud proclamation from an eager professor, it seemed as though no one could quite believe what had happened the night before. In an election that has appeared to be addressed unanimously as “historic,” Barack Obama broke down countless barriers by becoming the 44th president-elect of the United States of America. Senator Obama won the election with 365 electoral votes, leaving his formidable opponent, John McCain, with 173 votes of his own. It is commonly known that Webb is one of the few Democrat-voting counties in a staunchly Republican state. Prior to the election, several people wondered whether Webb would perhaps “go red” in the 2008 election. TAMIU’s very own College Democrats president, Prakash Mansinghani, voiced his concern over this in one meeting of the organization. “We need to make a conscious effort to keep Webb a blue county,” Mansinghani said. Many students at TAMIU were able to choose their candidate based on being informed in regards to what each stood for. Claudia Rodriguez, a senior education major, said she was initially planning on voting solely by party before she chose to learn about each candidate’s platform. “I was going to vote Republican at first. It seemed as though the Democrats never did what they said they would, so I figured it was time for a change. Fortunately, a good friend of mine encouraged me to read up on what each candidate had to offer, and it was until then that I realized that voting for Obama was in my best interest,” Rodriguez said. Justin Hall, a junior nursing major, gave his vote to Obama only after he was convinced by the candidate’s stance on issues that truly concerned him. “I wasn’t a strong supporter for either candidate for a long time until I learned of Obama’s stand on student loans. He’s promising that he’ll make it easier for us to pay off those debts, and I’m looking forward to him keeping his word,” Hall said. Elizabeth Martinez, Director of Institutional Research, also stated her opinion of the president-elect’s promises. “During his campaign, Obama promised many things to Americans. Now I’m just looking towards the future and hoping he delivers,” Martinez said. Although Martinez did not vote for Obama, she still offers him support. “I didn’t vote for him simply because I believed McCain was more experienced. It never crossed my mind he wasn’t a good person,” she added.Many are also referring to Obama’s election as an overall positive step for the nation. “People are so disgusted with the way things have been running for at least the past four years that we are all now fixing our hopes on Obama to get us out of this economic rut. People are losing their jobs and their homes. I have faith, though, that he’ll deliver now, especially with the way he’s been listening to his advisors and the people he’s chosen to be in his cabinet,” said Veronica Martinez, Director of Institutional Effectiveness & Planning.Paulo De Leon, a graduate student, took a more poignant point of view in this part of American history. “It’s so good to see that our country can finally show the rest of the world that we have overcome a dark part of our nation’s history by putting an African-American man in the highest political office possible,” he said.The students, faculty, and staff of TAMIU voted as diversely as could be expected, but, whether they voted for Obama or McCain or anyone else, they all have high expectations for the near and far future and all the changes it will bring. Barack Obama certainly seems to be ushering an air of change to the way this nation is being run and all we have to do now is wait and see what the president-elect will do with the proverbial torch that has been passed to him.