Obama, Helped by Youth Vote, Wins Presidency and Makes History
Barack Obama, who won the overwhelming support of college students, faculty members, and higher-education officials during his campaign, will be the next president of the United States. His election on Tuesday breaks a racial barrier, making the U.S. senator from Illinois the first black man to ascend to the nation’s top job.
Mr. Obama, who taught constitutional law as a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago and was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, campaigned on a platform that called for increased aid to students, a doubling of federal funds for basic research, and government grants to “successful community colleges” that train unemployed workers in emerging industries.
His election ushers in an administration in which the president, vice president, and their spouses will have unprecedented ties to higher education (see a related article).
Young voters overwhelmingly favored Mr. Obama in Tuesday's election, including in key battleground states such as North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, according to national exit polls.
Over all, 68 percent of voters ages 18 to 29 cast their ballots for the Democrat, versus 30 percent who supported John McCain. That is by far the greatest share of the youth vote that any presidential candidate has received since exit polls began reporting results by age categories, in 1976, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, at Tufts University.
Read entire article at Chronicle of Higher Ed
Mr. Obama, who taught constitutional law as a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago and was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, campaigned on a platform that called for increased aid to students, a doubling of federal funds for basic research, and government grants to “successful community colleges” that train unemployed workers in emerging industries.
His election ushers in an administration in which the president, vice president, and their spouses will have unprecedented ties to higher education (see a related article).
Young voters overwhelmingly favored Mr. Obama in Tuesday's election, including in key battleground states such as North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, according to national exit polls.
Over all, 68 percent of voters ages 18 to 29 cast their ballots for the Democrat, versus 30 percent who supported John McCain. That is by far the greatest share of the youth vote that any presidential candidate has received since exit polls began reporting results by age categories, in 1976, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, at Tufts University.