Across the nation Wednesday morning, Republicans cheered and Democrats turned disappointingly from TV broadcasts as the news broke that Sen. John Kerry conceded the presidential election to George W. Bush.
At UB, the tone of the student body reflected that of the country as students got caught up in the post-election atmosphere. Now that both local and national elections have come to an end, both the College Democrats and College Republicans said they are focusing on upcoming projects and plan to continue efforts to get more students interested in the political process.
"The atmosphere in the aftermath of the election ranges from disappointment to depression," said Justin Martin, president of the College Democrats. "At the same time, we are motivated to continue forth with future plans and to continue to show students that our party has the right message and has the best ideas to tackle America's problems."
Martin said that his members' blue spirits won't keep them from moving ahead with plans to get more students involved in politics.
"Our most immediate goal is to regain recognition," Martin said. "We plan on having our voices heard, maintain and grow our base, and continue our efforts to get more students interested in the political process."
On the other side of the spectrum, the post-election atmosphere for the College Republicans was filled with enthusiasm.
" It's interesting, one of my members came up to me today and said 'I feel like we have a justified reason to be overly proud and vocal today,' and I would have to agree with her," said Matthew Pelkey, president of the College Republicans. " It is a great time to be a Republican at UB right now."
According to Pelkey, the College Republicans' performance in this year's election was better than expected.
"Honestly I think that we accomplished more than a lot of people expected," Pelkey said. "If you look across the nation we generally increased support for Republicans across the board thanks to our 72-hour task force that raised our majorities by margins that will be very difficult for the Democrats to make up come mid-term elections, and we gained more popular votes than any other president in history."
With the election over with, the College Republicans said they are planning to start various new projects including the kickoff of a new talk radio show with WRUB as well as pursuing the possibility of starting a political talk show with the newly established SATV.
According to Pelkey, the College Republicans are looking forward to attending a major conservative political action conference, which will be held at the Ronald Reagan Center this year.
"With the result from this year's elections it is promised to be an event I will always remember," Pelkey said.
The College Democrats and Republicans were not the only student groups caught up in the election. Jacob Becker, president of the political science club, said their post-election atmosphere reflected the mixed political views of their membership.
"The club, in general, had mixed feelings," Becker said. "At the last meeting we had there was a consensus that it was going to be a close election so it was no surprise that our members, who possess a wide rage of political views, did not come to terms with their emotions on the winner of this years election."
According to Becker, projects in the works for the near future include a lecture on Nov. 8 by political science professor Nathan Kelly, who will speak about the implications of the election results.
According Anthony Burgio, president of the Student Association, the post-election atmosphere will quickly dwindle as students and the College Democrats and College Republicans look to move on from the politics and presidential race.
"Clearly, undergraduates with Republican leanings are very excited, while Democrats seem dismayed," Burgio said. "However, there is a surprising sense of unity and a common spirit that seems to represent everybody's wish to put political differences aside and move on, at least for now."
