Here at the Princeton Review’s second most politically active university in the nation, the Georgetown University College Republicans and College Democrats held election parties Tuesday night in anticipation of the 2012 election results.
More than 200 College Democrats set up camp in Sellinger Lounge, where the voice of CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was drowned out by cheers as the network gave President Barack Obama an edge in Florida.
“I absolutely love it. Events like this are why I came to Georgetown —so I could be a part of this political atmosphere,” said Anna Roosevelt (COL ’16).
The College Democrats had spent more than a year campaigning on the President’s behalf, going door to door within the District and organizing trips to Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio. President of the College Democrats Joe Vandergriff (COL ‘14) beamed at their efforts.
“Voter registration was a huge deal. We worked with the Republicans and with GUSA to really push that,” he said. “We had a large effort outside campus and a lot of volunteer opportunities with the D.C. Federation of College Democrats. We gave kids real first-hand experience with how to talk to voters, make friends in the process and meet people from all around D.C.”
Meanwhile in the ICC Auditorium, the College Republicans enjoyed pizza and applauded as Fox News called Georgia and Tennessee in Governor Mitt Romney’s favor.
Derek Faraldo (COL ’16), a new member of the organization, was thrilled to be apart of the occasion. “I’m very excited for this election, going for Romney, of course,” he said. “The returns look really close and it’s definitely going to come down to Florida, Ohio, and Virginia.”
Though fewer in number, the Republicans made their presence known, cheering as the GOP retained control of the House of Representatives. The mood quickly turned sour as the network gave Wisconsin to Obama.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s really hard to be conservative on a college campus. There aren’t many of us,” lamented Maggie Cleary (COL ’14) Chair of the College Republicans, “But I’m in my happy place here among all the Republicans watching Fox News—that’s something I guarantee you can’t find many other places on campus.”
Under Cleary’s direction, the College Republicans have kept quite a busy schedule and, in spite of the election results, have no intentions of slowing down. “We have meetings every week. We’ve been doing a lot of campaigning,” she said. “Once during the week we go to phone bank. We’ve had a bunch of events with the D.C. Fed, a bunch of social events, a bunch of social events to build cohesiveness within the club, a few debate watches. We’re going on a shooting trip at a gun range in a few weeks to exercise our Second Amendment rights.”
Divisive issues among students were the expected ones-—women’s rights, marriage equality, and economic policy took the forefront. “Religious liberty was most important to me. As a Catholic and an American, I feel the current administration’s actions are a substantial overstepping of power in our lives,” said Republican Louis Cohen (COL ‘15).
The other side held markedly different views, “I like Obama because he’s for things like equal marriage rights and rights for women, which I know Romney has very different views on,” Roosevelt said. “When it comes to the economy, I feel like it’s more up to the people than the president.”
As the networks awarded more electoral votes to Obama, chatter among the Democrats turned to the night’s celebrations. One eager freshman shouted, “If Obama wins, we’re all running to the White House!”
Their wish came true when, at 11:12 p.m., NBC called the election for Obama. In seconds, cheers of “Four more years” erupted across campus while students sprinted toward 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The entire area devolved into irreverent pandemonium.
“People were really pushing and shoving, even though Obama wasn’t actually there, which I didn’t realize until after,” Alex Miller (MSB ‘13) said. “The first time I went [in 2008], I got right up to the gates but there were police keeping people back. I know a lot of Georgetown people went, I ran into a bunch there.”
Not every student at the White House was an ardent Obama supporter. According to one anonymous sophomore, “I don’t know anything, so I didn’t vote.”
Common to both parties on election night, however, was a strong sense of national pride in our democratic system. As Faraldo said, “Whoever wins, let’s hope the country can come together. We have some big issues ahead and hopefully we can have some compromise. Let’s hope for the best for this country.”
