Spring Break
Democrat and Republican students focused on NH voters before election day
by Miranda Neubauer
Senior Writer
News | 11/4/08
Posted online at 4:25 AM EST on 11/4/08
/ Last updated at 8:48 AM EST on 11/4/08
With news organizations such as CNN and the New York Times predicting a victory for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Brandeis students from all over the country will help determine the outcome of today's election as polls in many swing states remain tight. A campaign that saw great mobilization of Brandeis Democrats but some organizational challenges for Brandeis Republicans will likely draw to an end tonight.
The news organizations predict that Massachusetts will adhere to its almost 50-year tradition of voting for the Democratic presidential candidate. In a poll by RealClearPolitics.com, a political Web site that combines the averages of multiple polls, Obama has led McCain by double digits in the state since June.
In Waltham, the Banks Elementary School will open its doors today as the official polling place for Brandeis students, who can take vans from the University to the polling site between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
With Massachusetts reasonably decided, politically active Democratic and Republican Brandeis students have focused on a swing state in Massachusetts' backyard.
New Hampshire, which has four electoral votes in the electoral college, elected President George W. Bush in the 2000 election but supported Democratic Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in 2004. As of Monday evening, Obama was ahead of McCain by 10.6 percentage points after the two candidates were tied at 44 percent in early September.
Since the end of September, around 60 students supporting Obama have traveled on the weekends to Raymond, N.H., which went to Bush in the 2004 election. Justin Backal-Balik '10, campaign director for the Brandeis Democrats, said, "There are lots of scenarios where losing New Hampshire would either bring [Obama] up short or [winning would] push him over the top."
Last weekend, Backal-Balik said, 35 Brandeis students "knocked on about 1,000 doors combined with Tufts and identified more than 200 new Obama supporters."
The news organizations predict that Massachusetts will adhere to its almost 50-year tradition of voting for the Democratic presidential candidate. In a poll by RealClearPolitics.com, a political Web site that combines the averages of multiple polls, Obama has led McCain by double digits in the state since June.
In Waltham, the Banks Elementary School will open its doors today as the official polling place for Brandeis students, who can take vans from the University to the polling site between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
With Massachusetts reasonably decided, politically active Democratic and Republican Brandeis students have focused on a swing state in Massachusetts' backyard.
New Hampshire, which has four electoral votes in the electoral college, elected President George W. Bush in the 2000 election but supported Democratic Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in 2004. As of Monday evening, Obama was ahead of McCain by 10.6 percentage points after the two candidates were tied at 44 percent in early September.
Since the end of September, around 60 students supporting Obama have traveled on the weekends to Raymond, N.H., which went to Bush in the 2004 election. Justin Backal-Balik '10, campaign director for the Brandeis Democrats, said, "There are lots of scenarios where losing New Hampshire would either bring [Obama] up short or [winning would] push him over the top."
Last weekend, Backal-Balik said, 35 Brandeis students "knocked on about 1,000 doors combined with Tufts and identified more than 200 new Obama supporters."
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