Barack Obama was elected 44th president of United States on Nov. 6, 2012.
Of the 538 total electoral votes, the Democratic candidate gained 332 votes
defeating the Republican Mitt Romney who received 206 votes.
The battle for presidency was fought principally in some swing states:
Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia
and Wisconsin. In these tossup states, the struggle between the candidates was considered
to be tighter but eventually, North Carolina has been the only state where
Romney won. Florida was considered crucial for the race, but the outcome of the
elections was revealed before the counting in the state was completed; however
Obama turned out to be the winner even there.
Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney already encountered in
three public television debates during the month of October. The first debate
was held in the University of Denver, in Colorado, and its main topic was
domestic policy. The second one took place at the Hofstra University in
Hempstead, New York and it was focused on foreign and domestic policy, it had
the format of a town meeting where citizens had the chance to ask the
candidates questions. The third and last debate was in Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida and it
was again focused on foreign policy.
The presidential campaign has been followed with great interest and
participation by the students of the University of Oklahoma. A watch party for
the debate was organized in the Gaylord Hall’s Ethics & Excellence in Journalism
Foundation Auditorium, the students who attended were also given the chance to register to
vote. The partners that hosted the event were the Faculty-in-Residence program,
UOSA, Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Political
Science Club.
Plus, the political organization OU Young Democrats organized an
election watch party in the Seve47 club in Campus Corner, the event was totally
free and open to students.
Nicolas Nackphouminh, an exchange student from
France talked about how he experienced the elections:
“We had the chance to vote at the clubhouse at that time, even if that
didn’t count for the results it was cool to be a part of it, as exchange
students.” He also said that for him it has been very interesting to be in U.S.
during such an important event.
 |
| Barack Obama during his acceptance speech, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, Norman, Oklahoma |
