 "Photo: Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT")
One year ago, Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States.
Opinions about his first year in office have been mixed. Some say he came into the Oval Office unprepared for the economic, military and social problems the country has faced during the year. Others claim his progressive agenda is necessary and that tackling controversial issues will always cause outrage.
Either way, Obama’s October approval ratings dropped to 53 percent, the second lowest monthly rating for the administration, according to a Gallup poll.
The college demographic, including Ball State students, turned out in record numbers for Obama last Election Day, leading him to a landslide victory on the national stage and causing Indiana to turn blue for the first time in more than 40 years.
Students who worked on the Obama campaign and those who watched from a distance, are remembering what last November meant to them.
“We’re all surprised that the anniversary came this quickly,” said Ball State University Democrats president Mike Uehlein. “Sometimes that election night feels like it was last night, but others it feels like it was in a completely different time.”
Uehlein worked as an organizer during the months before the election and was in charge of voter registration and making sure students got out and voted.
“Participation is the most important thing you can do,” he said.
Nolan Born, who worked with Uehlein during the election and is vice president of University Democrats, helped by doing voter registration, making phone calls to potential voters and getting the word out around campus.
“To be part of something bigger than yourself is great,” he said. “I am very excited to see the change.”
“We had lots of volunteers who made sure students could get out and vote,” said former DN reporter Jess Mahanes, who also worked on the campaign as an intern and worked as a voting register during the election.
All three students said they put in between 60 and 70 hours of work a week on the campaign in the months leading up to the election.
“We were lucky if we were able to get four hours of sleep,” said Mahanes.
Over the course of three months, the campaign registered thousands of students on campus alone.
“We weren’t necessarily working for one candidate - our job was to get students involved with the election,” said Uehlein.
