Many UI students feel re-energized for Obama | TheGazette

Four years ago, Taylor Corrigan was 15, and even with three years separating her from casting her first presidential vote, the now University of Iowa student felt the hype around Barack Obama.

?He?s good at getting people pumped up,? Corrigan, 19, said while waiting in line at 1 p.m. Friday, more than four hours before Obama was scheduled to appear on the UI campus at 5:20 p.m.

Four years after Obama?s first campaign energized millions of young voters, Corrigan said she and her friends ? many of whom spent hours in wet and sometimes chilly conditions Friday to hear Obama speak ? are still excited about his leadership.

?This is just an awesome environment to be in and around,? Corrigan said as she motioned to the throngs of people funneling through long security lines. ?Everyone is fired up.?

President Barack Obama addresses a crowd of 8,000 during a campaign event at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.(Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Obama, along with first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden showed up slightly later than planned but just in time for skies to clear Friday evening in downtown Iowa City. Because gates to the event on the Jessup Hall Lawn opened at 1 p.m. under threatening skies, many of the people in attendance were wet or clad in rain ponchos when the presidential motorcade showed up.

UI alumni Shannon Nelson, with wet clothes and dripping hair, said she didn?t mind.

?It?s worth it,? said Nelson, 28, explaining that she trusts Obama and supports everything he stands for, especially his positions on social issues. ?I think he?s moving with an evolving society.?

Regardless of what you think of Obama, Nelson said, she thinks the community should be honored that Obama and Biden brought their wives to the city the day after accepting the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina.

?It definitely makes me feel like we?re valued,? Nelson said.

Obama?s campaign has been trying to recreate the enthusiasm that inspired millions of young people to volunteer for him and vote for him in 2008. But critics have wondered whether he?ll be able to with unemployment rates still high and job creation numbers lower than expected.

UI sophomore Tammy Glowienke, for example, said she?s not even sure she?s going to vote.

?If I vote, I don?t think I would vote for Obama,? Glowienke, 19, said. ?My parents have said things aren?t going very well with this presidency, so I don?t know why we would vote for him again.?

During his speech Friday, which was very similar to the address he gave Thursday night at the convention, Obama made his case for why things have gone well during his presidency and why he should be trusted with another four years.

He said he?s going to outsource fewer jobs and make sure everyone gets to ?play by the same set of rules. He said he?s going to focus on building ?the best education system in the world.?

And he appealed to the student voters with this invitation: ?Let?s help keep tuition low at college universities ? and give (students) the chance to succeed.?

UI junior Tara Favia, 21, ate it up.

?I thought that was fantastic,? Favia said. ?It fired me up. If I wasn?t already voting for him, I would vote for him after that speech.?

She said a lot of her friends also are excited for the chance to vote this fall, many of them? for Obama, including UI senior Allison De Paz, 20.

?I just registered to vote,? De Paz said. ?I was not going to, but I did.?

Although the economy has become the dominant issue in the election so far, many students expressed support for Obama?s position on issues like women?s health, immigration and same-sex marriage.

UI graduate student Jen Harmon, 23, said she voted for Obama in 2008 and plans to check his box again this fall mostly for his social positions.

?It?s women?s issues,? she said. ?I couldn?t vote for Romney and look at myself in the mirror.?

Some students protested Obama?s visit near Hubbard Park by the Iowa Memorial Union before Obama, citing the still struggling economy and failed promises. Two men, who have been traveling the country selling Obama buttons and T-shirts, parked their cart along Clinton Street, although one of the two said he doesn?t support Obama and doesn?t plan to vote for him.

?I?m just trying to make some money, but I don?t support Obama,? said Tony Polzin, 20, of Michigan.? ?I have no other job. It?s hard in Michigan to find a job.?

Many of the people who attended Obama?s visit Friday said they never saw the protestors. And UI sophomore Jessica Kuennen, 19, said she thinks Obama has regained the 2008 magic.

?He has the spark,? she said. ?He?s got sass. And I like him.?

Source: http://thegazette.com/2012/09/07/many-ui-students-feel-re-energized-for-obama/

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