Editor’s Note: The Voting Project is a collection of interviews put together by D.L. Richardson’s JRN251 class. With elections fast approaching, the class went out and asked people two simple questions: who they were voting for and why. The answers may surprise you:
Terriel Thomas, a senior majoring in health, physical education and leadership, said that he will be voting for President Barack Obama in this year’s election.
As an African American basketball player at Southern Oregon University, Thomas said he would be proud to vote for the first black president, because he has not only changed the country, but history as well.
Thomas emphasized that he is still committed to the message of change that Obama campaigned on in 2008.
“It will take another term before it will begin to be in affect so that we all can see it and feel it,” he said, adding that Obama was “a great role model and leader to this country.”
Austin Schoenlein, a 21-year-old business major at SOU, has decided to vote for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
“Mitt Romney has proven himself as a very successful business man and governor,” said Schoenlein, adding that in this economic crisis a businessman is just what this country needs.
He said Romney has proven he has the skills to “run a government effectively and efficiently.”
Another reason he favors Romney in the race is because of his dislike for Obama. Schoenlein does not agree with many of the policies the president has implemented, such as the president’s health care reform bill. He added that Obama “has not proven himself as a sufficient leader for our current times.”
Maris Santeria, an elementary education major at SOU, has not decided which candidate she will be voting for, but with time counting down she hopes to make a decision soon.
Although Santeria is unsure who has won her vote, she does agree with Romney on his stances regarding gun control and abortion. However, she also favors Obama’s eagerness to end the war overseas, and his views on same sex marriages.
Santeria said she was hesitant to re-elect the president though.
“He’s a good talker but hasn’t really done as much as he originally said he would,” she said.
