The
usual work out crowd has gathered at the University of Northern Colorado’srecreation center on Tuesday evening. The televisions are set to the election
results on Fox and students working out seemed less amused than expected.
Tonight is the night that PresidentBarack Obama is either going to be reelected or replaced by former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Students ride the bike with their headphones
in their ears and glance up at the changing results every once and awhile. Other
students look at their Ipods and seem almost annoyed by the history going on
around them. Students who are steadily jogging on the treadmills look up at the
television but still have an empty expression plastered on their face. Maybe
because they’re out of breath and any emotion besides exhaustion seem
impossible while running that fast. Others have their eyes permanently glued to
the TV as they watch what states fall into what candidate’s hands. Whatever the
case, within the next few hours the 2012 presidential election will be over.
6:00
p.m.
Polls are beginning to close around
the country and votes are being tallied. This is just the beginning of the race
with not even half of the states being accounted for yet. But at this point,
some students at the recreation center seem hopeful for the candidate they have
chosen.
“If Obama wins he will be able to finish
what he started if given the opportunity to do his job as president” said
Jasmine Oglesby, senior elementary education major. “Romney has great
ambitions, but he has not given a plan which makes me not trust his word and essentially
sway to the other side.”
This is just the beginning of what
seems like a long road ahead to victory.
7:00
p.m.
At this point in the night, the main
controversy is what candidate is going to win over the state of Virginia. If
Obama wins Virginia there’s a good chance he could win the entire election. If
Romney is in favor, Obama will be left to rely on states like Ohio, Florida and
Wisconsin to beat Romney.
At 7:45 p.m. the states of Virginia,
Florida and Ohio are the closest in numbers. Virginia keeps going back and
forth with Florida in a close running with Romney winning by .02 percent. When
politicians said it was going to be a close race, they weren’t lying for a
change.
Within Colorado specifically, votes
are also being tallied for the controversial issue of Amendment 64. The
amendment, if passed, will allow Colorado citizens 21 years of age and older to
legally carry and use a small amount of marijuana. If the amendment passes,
marijuana will be taxed and regulated under the same circumstances as alcohol.
Although there are still possible restrictions within city limits by the
federal government, UNC students agreed that this was an important issue to
vote on this election.
“I voted no on 64,” said Terra Cozzolino,
senior nursing major. “Legalizing marijuana could potentially lead to even more
illicit drugs being legalized in the future. If there’s no starting point than
we won’t have to worry about a stopping point.”
8:00
p.m.
More people have been piling into
the recreation center for their Tuesday night routine. But it becomes more
apparent that in the back of their minds the likelihood of a new president is a
possibility as numbers begin to flash across the screen. At about 8:45 p.m.
Obama is in the front of Colorado with a 51 to 47 percent lead. Obama voters
seem to get nervous and Romney voters still seem to have hope.
9:00
p.m.
A male student starts to chant “Obama!”
as more results begin to flash on the screen. At 9:20 p.m. Obama had a total of
257 electoral votes with Romney falling behind at 203. Swing states like our
own, Florida and Nevada are too close to call at this point, but Obama fans are
slowly beginning to exhale.
“If Obama wins I think it will be relief
for women around the country,” said Sarah Rigato, sophomore elementary
education major. “Some of the things Romney was proposing felt like they would
have taken drastic measures to regress women’s rights.”
10:00
p.m.
Cheers start to echo through the
recreation center from Obama fans as they find out that he won Ohio and
Colorado. Those were the last two states the final result was lying upon. Along
with the news of Obama pulling forward, Amendment 64 results showed that the
amendment would pass. Hickenlooper appeared on the screen with announcements
about the fact that it will still depend on federal government regulations. Students
all around the recreation center stare at the screen in either relief or
astonishment.
Obama fans exhale and Romney fans
take in the fact that another four years will go by before a Republican will
run for president again. It’s been a long road to victory, but Amendment 64
regulations will soon be announced and Obama’s proposition to “Move Forward”
are in full swing.
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