By Peter Shanley
President George W. Bush took two key battleground states, Ohio and Florida, en route to his victory over Sen. John F. Kerry in the presidential election last week. But the country and Northeastern remain divided after a contentious campaign that featured relentless attacks by both parties.
“Definitely no good feelings about [Bush’s re-election],” said Katie Sanderson, a senior criminal justice major. “I think we’re all in trouble. There are a lot of negative feelings and I think everyone feels the same around here.”
Not Annabelle Guerra, the president of Northeastern’s College Republicans, who ex-pressed her enthusiasm for another four years of President Bush.
“I am completely ecstatic,” she said. “I’ve been confident from the beginning.”
Guerra said she feels the division among Americans is healthy because there are those in the world who are unable to experience such differing opinions.
“I think that is what makes us a democracy,” she said. “[Diversity] is what makes us beautiful. That is why a lot of countries are envious towards us.”
Bush will face challenges in his second term, including a mounting deficit and uniting the country while fighting the war in Iraq. But the Republican Party made sure the president had a clear mandate to push through legislation until the midterm elections.
The Republicans gained four seats in the Senate to bolster their majority, 55 seats to the Democrats’ 44, while retaining the majority in the House of Representatives. They now have control of Congress, the executive branch and have a United States Supreme Court that leans 5-4 conservative.
“It’s definitely scary,” said Heidi Buchanan, president of Northeastern’s College Democrats, of the election results. “But this is what Americans voted for and who they wanted for their leaders.”
Guerra sees it as an opportunity for the Republican Party, especially the president.
“He is going to do a lot of good,” she said. “He has a lot of goodness in his heart.”
Democrats are left to ponder where they went wrong and how to rebuild in order to wage effective campaigns in the midterm elections and the 2008 presidential campaign.
“I just hope that this forces the Democrats to get their act together and think about how to run a better campaign,” said John Finverg, a junior political science major. “I think Kerry would have won if he had a smarter campaign.”
The Republican Party was able to run an effective campaign on terrorism and moral values, chiefly the issue of gay marriage, where the fact that Kerry came from the first state to legalize the act came into play.
“That definitely hurt [Kerry],” Guerra said. “Bush’s faith is a lot stronger than Kerry’s. [The result] shows this country has morals and we vote on that.”
Buchanan said she agrees it is healthy for the country to vote on morals but believes Bishops unfairly influenced the election by instilling fear within people to vote for Bush. She said she also believes religion is one of the causes splitting the nation apart.
Even though the Republicans hold a majority in the Senate, they are short of the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster, leaving the Democrats with limited leverage during the confirmation hearings of likely Supreme Court Justices.
“The biggest thing I’m concerned about is the [appointing] of Supreme Court justices,” said Annely Richardson, a Boston University Medical School student, “because that is what’s going to affect this country the most.”
