In the main event space at President Barack Obama's Election Night party at McCormick Place in Chicago, hundreds of national and
international news agencies were set up and broadcasting. After my parents, brother, and I arrived and explored, we made our way to a workspace that looked
on to a TV that was showing six different news stations simultaneously. Massive
overhead screens also hung throughout the event space. Obama supporters at the
event focused on those screens and cheered loudly whenever a projection
favoring Obama was announced.
Of course, when it was announced that President Obama had
won re-election, McCormick Place erupted with cheering and chants of "Four
More Years!
The announcement was made at around 11:20 p.m., and as the
crowd waited for the President to deliver his victory speech they danced,
clapped, sang, and waved little American flags. The music was loud, and so was
the crowd!
But everyone at McCormick Place had to wait a long time for
the President. Mitt Romney delivered his concession speech at 1 a.m.
— nearly two hours after Obama was declared the winner. The crowd seemed
to lose some of its energy as the night dragged on. Except for the section of supporters
directly behind the President's podium. Their presence was revealed a short
while before the President took the stage. They were concealed behind a blue
curtain. This newer, fresher cheering section was located directly in the sight
line of most of the major TV outlets, providing them with images of energetic
attendees.
Obama finally took the stage at 1:40 a.m. He was met with
wild, loud, and long cheers. First Lady Michelle Obama joined him on stage,
then left the President by himself to deliver his victory speech.
In his speech, Obama thanked his supporters, his family, his
Vice President, Joe Biden, and even his opponent, Mitt Romney.
But he also spoke to pulling the country together after a
divisive presidential election. "We are an American family, and we rise and fall
together as one nation and one people," President Obama said.
A big part of the President's speech was that it's now time
to move past the campaign and focus on working to improve the country. Obama said that he wants to work with Romney to solve the
problems facing the nation.
"In the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting
down with Governor Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this
country forward," Obama said.
When President Obama concluded his speech, the crowd went
wild! He was joined by his family and the Biden family. Then an explosion of
red, white, and blue confetti filled the air.
Obama supporter A.J. Dilay summed up the feelings of a lot
of the people at McCormick Place last night. "Being here tonight has been
so uplifting," he said. "Just the energy is like nothing I've ever
felt. I'm just screaming inside and full of joy."
I know it's a night that I will never forget!
—Kid Reporter Natalie Wexler
Photo: Supporters cheer at the end of President Barack
Obama's remarks during an election night party, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in
Chicago. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Last night, hundreds of people from around the world
gathered at the Boston Convention and Expo Center to see if their choice for
President, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, would be the next
President of the United State. His hopeful supporters waited for hours to get
into the center. Even Donald Trump was there to show his support for Governor
Romney. The mood was calm but happy, A sort of “We got this” feeling was in the
air.
As I talked to supporters, they seemed happy but also a
little nervous. “I’m not sure who will (win), but I hope its Romney,” said Lisa
Gibbs from Birmingham, Alabama.
As the votes came in, Romney held a small. early lead. But
President Obama kept it tight right and was right on Romney’s tail. People
outside started to get more excited and people started answering my questions
as if Romney had already won. “We came from Baltimore early this morning to
watch history be made here,” said Joe Tristani.
Though Romney had a small lead, he lost it very quickly and
became neck and neck with Obama. There was a new sort of tension in the air
with people starting to realize that Romney might not be the next President.
His supporters went back to saying “if” he wins. I asked supporters what they
thought the most important issue in America is and how Romney would help solve
it if elected. Nancy Young of Massachusetts said, “We hope to get rid of
Obamacare and get the healthcare plan back on track.” Others like Janet Fogerti
thought that the economy was the biggest issue.
“I think the biggest issue is the economy but also national security,”
she said.
At 11:30 p.m., most of the national TV news outlets had
projected Ohio would be won by Obama, which would mean he won re-election.
Governor Romney's campaign wasn't ready to concede defeat — they wanted to see
more results come in from Ohio first. But as the night went on, Obama won more
states and it was clear Romney would not be the winner.
At 12:55 a.m., Romney took the stage at the convention
center to deliver his concession speech. His speech was gracious. He thanked his family and staff, as well as his supporters and his running mate,
Paul Ryan. “Next to Ann,” Romney said, “Paul is the best choice I’ve ever
made.”
Romney also said he wanted the country to pull together and get
to work fixing the nation's problems. "The nation, as you know, is at a
critical point," Romney said. "At a time like this, we can't risk
partisan bickering and political posturing. Our leaders have to reach across
the aisle to do the people's work. And we citizens also have to rise to the
occasion.
He then gave advice on how Americans, as working people, can
help fix the economy. "This election is over, but our principles
endure," Romney said. "I believe that the principles upon which this
nation was founded are the only sure guide to a resurgent economy and to a new
greatness."
When he finished his speech, his family, as well as Ryan and
Ryan's family, came together on the stage to thank their supporters.
—Kid Reporter Coleman Hirschberg
Photo: Kid Reporter Coleman Hirschberg outside Mitt Romney's
campaign night event in Boston. (Courtesy Coleman Hirschberg)
Editor's note: Kid Reporter Coleman Hirschberg had to leave
the Romney event early because he got sick as the night wore on. As a result, he
wasn't able to speak to Romney supporters after Romney delivered his concession
speech.
Mike Pence and John Gregg went head to head yesterday for
the title of Governor of Indiana. Both with their separate reasons for wanting
to be elected, both anxiously watched the votes come in.
This is the first Governor election where the powerful
incumbent, Mitch Daniels, wasn’t running. Both candidates are diverse, which
made it a more difficult decision for Indiana voters.
“The governor’s race has been interesting because it started
out so quiet and then has been much more vocal at the end,” said Dr. Sarah
Stelzner of Indianapolis. “I think got a little bit dwarfed by the whole
controversy with the senate race and obviously with the presidential race. So,
that one has been a little bit harder to follow for me and the fact that
there’s two people trying to put themselves forward as opposed to an incumbent
that you have some experience with but it was easy for me to make a decision.”
Amidst the chaotic Election Day, a foreigner who wasn’t able
to vote headed to the polls with a friend for the experience. Valerie Spriet of
Indianapolis enjoyed comparing and contrasting the elections here and in her
native country, France.
“It’s not allowed,” Spriet said about campaign ads still
being broadcast on Election Day. “Because at this stage in France, 24 hours
before the election everything must be stopped. The candidates mustn’t speak on
TV anymore. Nobody is allowed to give papers for the different parties outside
the place you vote. It is totally
forbidden. They think that they have to
leave people on their own to think now to begin to make their own choice and
that they don’t have to interfere anymore.
So they stop all the campaigning.”
The votes were neck and neck for a great amount of time
until Mike Pence pulled ahead to become the next Governor of Indiana with 50
percent of the vote to Gregg’s 46 percent.
President Obama captured re-election last night with the
assistance of Nevada's six electoral votes.
Obama won the state by 51 percent of the popular vote, with
47 percent going for Romney. This is the second consecutive year Nevadans have
voted blue (Democratic). This swing state has predominately voted red
(Republican) since 1912.
It appears Nevada may be starting a new trend for their
future.
Election night was a good night for Maryland Democrats, but
especially for Governor Martin O’Malley. In addition to voting to reelect
President Barack Obama, Marylanders renewed mandates for the Democratic ticket:
Senator Ben Cardin, US Representatives John Sarbanes, Steny Hoyer, and Chris
Van Hollen, and denied 6th district Republican Congressman Roscoe Bartlett an
11th term in favor of Democratic newcomer John Delaney.
Governor O’Malley had four other reasons to smile, too. His
constituents voted “Yes” on all statewide ballot measures championed by the
Governor and Democratic Party leaders.
President Barack Obama defeats Mitt Romney to earn another term
After months of campaigning, the 2012 presidential election came to an end last night.
President Barack Obama defeated former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to earn four more years in the White House.
President Obama won the popular vote 50 percent to 49 percent, as of early Wednesday morning. But he won nearly 300 electoral votes, with Florida still not called for either candidate. The first candidate to 270 electoral votes is declared the winner.
At a rowdy Election Night event in Chicago, was met with wild, loud, and long cheers. First Lady Michelle Obama joined him on stage, then left the President by himself to deliver his victory speech.
—Kid Reporters Natalie Wexler and Coleman Hirschberg
Photo: President Barack Obama waves as he walks on stage with First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha at his election night party Wednesday, November 7, 2012, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Colorado voters have been bombarded with political ads these
past few months. Colorado is what they call a “swing state,” which means it
usually is split right down the middle between Democrats and Republicans.
Because of this, each party does anything they can to convince voters to vote
for them. Television ads, radio ads, billboards, signs, and rallies are just
some examples of the media attention Colorado has been receiving.
Many Coloradans are starting to get annoyed. Corie Rajala,
the Slavens K-8 School Spanish teacher, stated that the amount of money spent
on ads negatively affected the overall vote of the people. She is not alone in
thinking this. Linda Brown, a Slavens parent, agreed with Mrs. Rajala. She was
relieved the election is over.
What exactly goes on in a polling booth? Many non registered
voters, meaning kids, may not know. There’s a Supervisor or Election Judge.
They are in charge. When people enter, they go to the first desk where there is
a large book of all the registered voters in that area. If you are not for some
reason in the book, then you can still vote but you have to fill out papers and
the process is longer. Then you get your ballot and you stand in a voting
booth. In here, you are surrounded on all or three sides so no one can see your
vote. Then there are two boxes. One is labeled “Mail-In Ballot,” one is a
computer voting machine. Citizens also have an option to fill out the ballot at
home and send it in, or drop it off at a local poll.
The boxes have a lot of security on them. First, the
supervisor has to show everyone that its empty before locking it and putting a
plastic tag with a number on the lock. If the tag is removed, they know that
the boxes have been tampered with. There is also security with the computer
ballot. First you need to go the first desk, but instead of receiving a ballot
you receive a number. Someone else turns that number into a card. You stick
that card in the machine and begin voting. The computer keeps track of all the
votes that have been submitted on that certain machine. This way, the staff can
know that when they get the computer, if it says zero, then it has not been
tampered with or cheated. Each staff must go through about eight hours of
training to work in the Poll room. A Supervisor and his assistant must have an
extra four hours of training. Any media must stand 100 feet away from the poll
in order to conduct an interview.
In the end, Barak Obama won the election against Mitt
Romney. Colorado didn’t get a chance to be called one way or another until
after his victory. We did eventually end up blue, or Democratic, but the margin
was extremely slim — just like in many states all over the country.
The polls closed in the state of Georgia at 7 p.m. along
with the polls of all other states on the Eastern seaboard. Election Day had
ended and now Georgians could just wait. As major TV stations such as NBC News,
CNN, ABC News, and CBS News projected the results of the presidential campaign,
I couldn’t wait for Georgia’s results to come out.
The Peach State has traditionally been a Republican state
and has voted for the Republican candidate in seven of the previous 10
Presidential general elections. But several of the voters that I had
interviewed earlier today at our local polling place had cast their ballots for
President Obama, and I was extremely curious to see if our state would change
sides during this Election season.
It was quite exciting waiting for the results, and finally
they were announced at 8 p.m. Georgia was called for the Republican nominee,
Governor Mitt Romney. This win now brought him 16 electoral votes closer to the
White House. And it marks the fifth consecutive Presidential election that
Georgia has been a red state.
With 96 percent of precincts reporting, here are the
results: Governor Romney won 53.2 percent of the vote and President Obama won
45.7 percent. 1.4 percent of people voted for another candidate. Romney won by
a larger margin in Georgia than Republican John McCain did in the state four
years earlier, also against Barack Obama.
Other races that Georgians watched for on Election Night
were the House of Representatives elections. For the 14 Congressional districts
in Georgia that held House elections, 13 incumbents were re-elected including
Representative Tom Price of District 5, who has agreed to be interviewed by
this Kid Reporter several times.
As the final national election results come out, it has
become apparent that incumbent President Barack Obama has won re-election, just
like what Scholastic readers predicted in the Scholastic Student Vote. Election
Day is winding to a close and so is this Election season that has been so
exciting and so close between the two candidates.
President Obama won four more years from Virginians in what
was a long, dead-heat, exhausting race not just for the two candidates, but for
Virginian voters as well. Barack Obama also received all 10 electoral votes
from Maryland and three from Washington DC.
All eyes were on the swing states, including Virginia, one
of the key battlegrounds in the presidential race. Virginia carried Obama with
its 13 electoral votes in 2008 in a state that has been voting Republican for
the last 10 elections. The margin was narrower for Obama this time around, just
like in other key states, but it was enough for the President to claim victory.
Virginia also delivered one of the 33 Senate seats up for
grabs for the Democrats by electing former Governor Tim Kaine with 51.63
percent of the votes over former Senator George Allen who got 48.18 percent.
This was the most expensive senatorial race in country, with an estimated at
$84 million spent by the combined campaigns.
Ten minutes after 11 p.m., Allen conceded the elections to
Kaine, urging his supporters not to give up fighting for the principles behind
his campaign. “It’s not our cause. It’s America’s cause. Stand strong for
freedom.”
Maryland re-elected incumbent Senator Ben Cardin with 53.54
percent of the vote, and confirmed a strong Democratic delegation to the U.S.
House of Representatives: John Sarbanes, Steny Hoyer, Elijah Cummings, and
Chris Van Hollen, among others. Newcomer John Delaney won Maryland District 6
with 58 percent of the ballots cast.
Turnout vote in 2012 looked a lot like 2008 in Virginia,
Maryland, and Washington D.C. There were long lines at the polls throughout the
day, in very cold, below average temperatures, but people did not give up. Some
precincts in DC were slowed by machine problems and equipment malfunctions, but
voters in the Capital said they never saw such long lines of people waiting to
cast their ballot.
Virginia electorate was bombarded with Get-Out-The-Vote
calls from both the Romney and Obama campaigns. Voter frustration and fatigue
took over, as appeals poured in from both sides. Maryland volunteers were
summoned to call Virginian supporters of the two candidates and remind them to
vote.
“I think the victory today all across the country is going
to be determined by already decided voters and who gets the most of them out”,
Maryland State Senator Ron Young told this Kids Reporter earlier in the day.
Letty Carpenter, one of the Maryland Obama volunteers
calling Virginia said, “I developed a real connection with voters when I was
familiar with the road they lived on, and it turned out that some of the people
I called knew my husband. And that was real rewarding. This is very important
because every vote counts.”
Virginia polls closed at 7 p.m., but hundreds of people who
got to their voting place before the expiration deadline were still in line
waiting to vote close to 10 o’clock in Prince William, Fairfax, Chesapeake and
Virginia Beach. Their vote was extremely important to both parties, and the
Obama campaign urged people via Twitter to stay in line until they were able to
cast their ballot.
Virginia was the second to last state to be called in favor
of the President, just before Florida, at 45 minutes past midnight. Governor
Romney conceded the elections to President Obama 10 minutes later.
President Obama officially won the seven electoral votes
required for the state of Oregon. As of Tuesday evening, President Obama was
projected as the winner of the presidential race over Mitt Romney in the state.
As people around the United States lined up at the polls to
vote for this nation's next leader, Oregonians stayed home because of voter by
mail.
Instead of heading to the polls to cast their votes in favor
of the Democratic Presidential candidate, Oregonian voters mailed in their
votes and were able to follow the election news
across the state via television, computers, and social media
announcements.
"I have two feelings about voter by mail" Patrick
Nearing, a trumpet teacher and chef in Portland expressed about voting in
Oregon. "One is that I think it is a great way to do business long as we
can trust the commissioners, and it's great for people who can't get off work
to vote, since it is convenient."
However, people still miss going to the polls. "I miss
going to the polls because it is an important community action. This is because
no matter what party you are from, you meet your neighbors there," Patrick
said.
Although Oregon voted a Democratic majority and President
Obama won tonight, the state does have many Republican counties. This state has
lots of people who are conservative.
"This whole idea, liberal or conservative, divides our nation in a
way that is not constructive and people should not be labeled. We have to work
together, so everybody's vote counts," Nearing said.
In Oregon, the election wasn't just a focus for the adults.
At schools around the state, as parents cast their votes by mail, students
participated in mock elections during the school day. At Poynter Middle school
in Hillsboro Oregon, which is mainly Democratic state, children cast their
"ballots" with an Obama majority. Most of the kids already knew who
their parents voted for or who they would select because of voter by mail.
Poynter Middle School principal Greg Timmons said, "I
thought this school election was awesome because 400 kids came to vote, even
giving up their lunch time. I think it teaches students to be politically
active and it sets healthy habits of being active in politics." The
principal feels that the kids usually follow their parents' beliefs so the mock
election is pretty accurate. "Very often parents are the biggest influence
on the opinions of their kids," he said.
As Obama has gotten hold on the Pacific states, the election
has come to a close. Obama has won most of the key battleground states,
including Ohio. Oregon, one of his many safe states, has voted, and has chosen
our next President.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in Scholastic News Kids Press Corps Blog are strictly those of the author and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Scholastic, Inc.
