And the winner is … Obama!

After months of scorching criticism, name calling, and unforgettable election hashtags on Twitter, such as #malarkey, #bindersfullofwomen and #BigBird, the grueling campaigns have finally come to an end.

I have never considered myself to be affiliated with either party, and I don’t want my identity to be defined by a check mark next to Democrat or Republican. However, for the 2012 presidential election, I knew I had to root for “Team Forward,” rather than “America’s Comeback Team.”

Let me explain with three simple phrases: “47 percent,” “binders full of women” and “public broadcasting cuts.”

Thanks to Romney, the number 47 has never been any more notorious.

How can a presidential candidate talk about the hardworking 47 percent in a derogative manner and dub them as individuals who “believe that they are victims”?

If an individual is running for the highest position of this nation, he or she makes a commitment to the American people — rich or poor. And the president is absolutely obliged to serve the people.

Perhaps, Romney forgot one of the most important phrases from the Gettysburg address: “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” And that’s not excluding the 47 percent.

Romney’s second blunder was the infamous “binders full of women.”

In the second presidential debate, one young woman asked the candidates how they would correct the inequalities in males’ and females’ pay.

Obama mentioned the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Romney talked about “binders full of women.”

I was so caught up with his poor choice of words that I didn’t realize that Romney hadn’t even answered the question.

Thirdly, Romney became known as the man who was out to get Big Bird.

Although Congress provides only about .01 percent of its budget to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Romney blamed public broadcasting by stating, “I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for.”

I understand that my opinion is only one out of many of those on campus. So in order to capture a diverse mix of reflections and, perhaps, so that one may possibly understand another’s perspective, I asked students, both Democrats and Republicans, to share their own views.

What are your thoughts on the results of the election?

“I am very pleased with the results of the election. Yes, I was disappointed that President Obama did not win North Carolina because that was where I was really hoping he would get a win. But it was made up by the fact that he won the majority of the electoral votes and was re-elected to another four years in the White House.”
— Joshua Weil, sophomore, organizing fellow and campus organizer for Guilford College for Obama for America

“I expected Obama to win the election and, while I am disappointed, I’m looking forward to the changes under his administration, especially in light of the gay marriage legislation in Maine and Maryland and the legalization of marijuana in Washington and Colorado. My support will always lie with the American people, and I hope we can balance the budget.”

— Carla Restina, Early College student, intern for Romney for President, Inc.

“Now that the president has been chosen, it’s time to get everybody back to work and see if we can put some of the partisan bickering aside and move forward.”

— Shawn Bowers , junior

What are some of the campaign highlights or blunders that you remember?