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Last Updated: Nov 13th, 2008 - 21:49:21 |
President-elect Barack Obama said it was the thousands of young volunteers and voters who helped him win the election, and a handful of those volunteers were Metro students.
However, now that the champagne bottles are emptied and the celebration is over, students that have been consumed with the election for weeks and months are now left wondering what to do next.
"I don't know what to do with myself now, I was so caught up in the election it was taking up all of my time," Metro student Rachelle Duncan said. "It was like a full-time job for a while."
Duncan is just one of many campaigners who is now suffering from "post campaign letdown," the latest ailment dubbed by political pundits.
Duncan said she spent endless hours volunteering for Obama and Sen. Mark Udall's campaigns. Though she is proud of her work and the election of both men, she is sad it is all over.
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Where The Buffalo Roam on the 16th Street Mall has a wide selection of Obama T-shirts still for sale. (Photo by Stephen Swofford / sswoffo@mscd.edu)
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"Things could not have turned out better and I feel like I was a part of history, but I am sad to see the election pass," Duncan said.
Campaign volunteers from both parties, not only those whose candidate didn't secure a win on election night, are suffering from campaign let down, searching for what's next.
"Young voters really made an impact on this historical election, but I don't really know what they are going to do next," Metro political science professor Sheila Rucki said.
Rucki also said several of her students missed classes on multiple occasions because of their involvement in the election and even though she understands and appreciates their passion for the election, she expects to see more of them the rest of the semester.
"This was such a historical election in so many ways and the candidates were so distinctly different, a lot of people wanted to get involved," Rucki added.
Several other students who said they were heavily politically active in recent months said they would now try and find a job with their spare time. With the struggling economy, hopefully they can.
"I have been a big fan of Obama's since his speech at the 2004 DNC," Metro student John Kirtland said. "I felt like I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did not get involved in this election. But now that the election is over, I am not sure when the next time I will get motivated like this."
Kirtland said he spent the past six weeks working at different Obama campaign offices in Colorado campaigning, volunteering six days a week on several occasions.
"We have work to do obviously, that is what we are going to do," Metro student and volunteer for Sen. John McCain's campaign Breanna Brown said, referring to the task now facing the Republican Party.
Brown said she did not know exactly what she was going to do now post election, but added that she will stay true to her party and support future Republican candidates for office.
Former Student Government Assembly President Aaron "Jack" Wylie worked on Democrat Su Ryden's campaign since July, working pretty much whenever he wasn't sleeping, eating or doing school work.
Ryden won the election with 59 percent of the vote and will be representing Aurora's District 36 in the Colorado House of Representatives.
"I'm still figuring that out," Wylie said when asked what he'll do next. "I need a job."
Wylie hasn't ruled out another foray into politics, though he doesn't plan to run for office himself.
"I intend on staying in Colorado. We have terrible laws. I want to stay here and work on those," he said.
After months of watching campaign events, knocking on doors, making phone calls and following coverage of the races on cable news, it is expected that they might be a bit worn out.
But now that the election is over, they may want to try and use their new-found time on other important issues – like homework.
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