John Joseph
From Vista (Retired)
I’m glad it happened. Look at the economy under eight years of Bush. I think McCain was an honorable man. A war hero and great guy, but he would’ve followed the same Republican policies that got us where we are. And a lot of this stuff actually started way back when Reagan was president. It’s one of the reasons I’ve always voted Democrat. Voting for Nixon was the only time I ever voted for a Republican. Regarding the propositions in this last election, I was sad about Prop 8. I’m not gay, but I feel this changes the constitution, which says everyone has the right to marry.
Clint Portess
From Tierrasanta (Pundit)
My main complaint is that a black man gets elected president, and blacks are celebrating how far they’ve come. But they turn around and say, “Not you, gay people!” Aside from that, I’m really optimistic about Obama as president. I voted for him, even though I was considering myself still a Republican up until fairly recently. With eight years of Bush and not agreeing with a lot of what Arnold Schwarzenegger does…but I think President Obama is going to do some really great things.
Kelsey Dyroff
From Aguanga (Student)
I think it’s such an interesting and exciting part of history. To think that hundreds of years ago people were enslaved, they got their freedom, and now an African American is ruling the country. And I was a McCain supporter. I’m a military brat, so I support the Republicans. But I think this is a good change. You never know how the media is going to treat the president. Obama seems to be a great speaker, and he’ll probably be able to handle a lot of what is thrown at him. But I never get too upset over political things because I can’t change them.
Stan Metzger
From San Marcos (Retired Military)
I’m a retired colonel in the Army. I voted for Ron Paul. This is the first election I’ve voted in since Nixon. I just felt that when I was active duty, it was like a conflict of interest if the person I didn’t vote for won and I ended up working under them. But the thing that surprises me is when I’ve talked to my black friends, some retired colonels included. They always voted Republican but said they voted for Obama this time. I asked them what would happen if whites voted for people merely based on the color of their skin. I’m convinced that if a black ran on the Republican ticket, black Democrats would’ve probably all voted for him. And that just seems crazy to me. With this election, I just felt it was the lesser of two evils. Boy, that Palin sure brought a lot of baggage.
Albert Valencia
From San Marcos (Student)
I wasn’t as into the campaign as everyone else in my family seemed to be. And all of them kept talking about how they were going to vote for Obama. Everyone. They talked about how he helps Latinos more. And a few of them talked about immigration issues. It was all I heard from them for months. My uncle is in Iraq, and I’m not sure who he voted for. I also heard a few of my family members talk about how Obama would be better for them regarding their work.
Gavin Bowlby
From Vista (Construction Foreman)
For the past eight years, I’ve had a low level of depression without completely understanding the cause. Now that Senator Obama has won, this feeling has been lifted. I’ve taken it for granted that national policy on many issues that I care about — stem-cell research, global warming, renewable energy, protection of Americans from predatory business practices, abortion rights, military intervention in the Middle East — has been very different from my own beliefs. I’ve felt hopeless that our national policy would ever be aligned with my own personal views and that the views of many of my fellow Americans for the last eight years have been ignored in favor of an extreme ideology. I’m optimistic with a more progressive party in control of Congress and the presidency that American policy on these issues will be changed.