November 8, 2012 Lorian

Page 1

WRESTLING: Duhawks pull out the mats for the opening of the season

COMMUNITY: Loras wastes no time signing a free-trade deal ... with NIKE

Page 10

Page 3

November 8, 2012 — Vol. 91, Issue 7

Suddenly, it was over What the heck happened? That sure was an abrupt ending to the 2012 presidential election. Just when it looked like this race was going to rival the Barnum & Bailey circus that was the 2000 election, each of the TV networks started to declare President Obama the victor at about 10:15 on Monday night. Just as ABC was about to jump on the bandwagon, the network lost power. Over on Fox News, Karl Rove suddenly was scolding others at the network its own knee-jerk announcement that Obama had won re-election. Going into the evening, everyone in the media braced for an all-nighter. Or worse, a repeat of the complete chaos that reigned for more than a month in 2000. The 2012 has been billed as “neck-and-neck” and “exceedingly close” over the past two weeks. There had been a lot of talk about both sides

sending out waves of attorneys in preparation for a massive legal dispute over the outcome. Then completely out of the blue, Obama was named the winner. Right up until 10 p.m., Republican nominee Mitt Romney was ahead in the popular vote by a couple of million votes. And in the Electoral College that determines the winner, that battle did not look like either candidate could ever get to the magical number of 270. That’s because there were three key battlegrounds that looked like a mosh pit. From the time the polls closed, Florida looked like it was going to be a virtual dead-heat. There even were reports that people in Miami-Dade County still were voting as of 11 p.m. EDT, thanks to a 10-page ballot that was slowing everything way down.

In addition, Obama’s lead in Ohio — which was viewed as the decisive state in the election — was shrinking throughout the evening, and it, too, seemed destined to become “too close to call.” Romney held a seemingly comfortable lead in Virginia, but the experts were saying that the race would tighten throughout the evening as more Obama-friendly precincts were counted. A few other battleground states — including Iowa and Wisconsin — were “projected” as Obama victories within minutes of the polls closing. What gives? The race in Iowa, in particular, was forecast to be very tight. But the TV networks must have known what they were doing. By 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, the race looked ALMOST like a landslide.

continued on page 5

Key City Showdown: 72 hours before Election Day, Obama and Romney visited Dubuque, the first time both presidential nominees have appeared in the same city on the same day since 2004.

photo by KATHERINE EDWARDS

photo by KATHERINE EDWARDS

President Obama addresses the 5,000-plus crowd at Washington Square in Dubuque on Saturday.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney shakes a supporter’s hand during his rally at the Dubuque Regional Airport on Saturday.

T

T

Barack ’n’ roll

he road to the White House began its final stretch in Dubuque on Saturday as more than 5,000 men, women and children lined the streets around Washington Square to see President Obama speak. The event was interesting in that it was outdoors and seemingly posed such a security challenge in that it was located at the foot of a huge bluff.

Co-Mitt-ed crusaders

ri-state residents waited in a line stretching at least a half-mile to see Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speak at an airplane hangar at the Dubuque Regional Airport on Saturday. Hundreds squeezed in to listen to Romney’s words and show their support for who they hoped would be the next leader of the free world.

by COLIN HALBMAIER

by KAY PAUL

Doors to the event opened at 2 p.m., allowing the long lines of people who were previously ushered through security checks and into Washington Square, which was adorned with several large American flags, a stage and the traditional presidential podium. As the event drew closer, snipers took their places on surrounding rooftops as a helicopter circled overhead. Around 5:30 p.m., Dubuque Mayor Roy Buol took the stage, welcoming the audience to the park and thanking them for their support. He spoke passionately about some of the president’s accomplishments. Following a reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem and an invocation, other speakers stepped up to the microphone to support the president. Kate Walsh, actress on “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice,” shared her own story of hard economic times after the separation of her parents. She spoke on funding for education. She said she needed government assistance to attend college, and it was there that she found her calling. A musical performance by rock singer-songwriter John Mellencamp followed, during which he played a number of acoustic songs. A sentiment of pride in country and hope for the future could be heard throughout the concert, echoing some of the promises made by the president over the election cycle. Kevin O’Brien, a 2011 graduate of Loras and current member of the fellowship in the Obama For America campaign, took to the stage to rally support for the campaign in its final days.

Upon Romney’s arrival, members of his campaign walked on stage with boxes full of T-shirts and threw them to the eager supporters. Speakers started off the afternoon by praising the enthusiastic, loud crowd. One of the speakers, and Romney supporter, was NASCAR Hall of Famer, Richard “The King” Petty, who spoke about the very crucial next three days that were approaching. The crowd started to chant “three more days!” U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, punctuated Petty’s appearance by saying, “When Mr. Petty’s here, we’re in the winner’s circle.” The Republican candidate for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, Ben Lange, then advanced to the podium to announce, “Everyone is paying attention to you, Dubuque.” Throughout the afternoon, the Eastern Iowa political universe demonstrated how important Iowa is to this race. When Grassley took the stage, he did his part to repudiate the Obama Administration. Grassley said “Washington (D.C.) is an island surrounded by reality” and he scolded Obama for not “telling the truth” about multiple things, and he specifically noted some of the discrepancies surrounding the attack of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The crowd really erupted after the plane of the featured speaker arrived. And out stepped Mitt and Ann Romney. “Iowa holds a special place in (our) hearts,” Ann Romney said. The theme of the night continued as the crowd began to chant “three more days” as Romney took the podium, a reference to Obama’s hoped-for election defeat.

features editor

continued on page 2

staff writer

continued on page 2


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.