Last year Stephanie Parker \u201811 decided to make a change and go full-throttle for Barack Obama. That meant literally dropping everything and putting her life on hold to campaign for the freshman Illinois senator who promised to transform politics in Washington.<\/p>\n
Parker began the campaign by registering voters and then moved up in the ranks of Stanford’s chapter of Students for Barack Obama, eventually managing the entire database of Obama campaigners on campus. For more than a quarter, it was non-stop voter registration drives, reminding people to mail in their absentee ballots and weekend road trips to Nevada. It was all Obama, all the time.<\/p>\n
For Parker, it was worth it. On election night 2008, she, along with a cohort of 130 other Stanford students, were canvassing for the soon-to-be president in Nevada. When the results rushed in that night and Barack Obama was declared the 44th president of the United States, it was joyous mayhem in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ran around the casino celebrating like it was 1999!\u201d Parker said. \u201cIt was really an awesome and emotional feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other students on the campaign trail got caught up in the historic election results as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am here because I believe in Obama,\u201d Michael Albada \u201811, who has written for The Daily, said on election night. Like Parker, he was in Nevada campaigning for Obama. \u201cI think he is a political messiah. He is the man our generation needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Stanford overwhelmingly agreed with Albada. In 2008, Obama fever swept through campus. There were rallies in White Plaza, debate-watching parties at Old Union and a sea of Barack Obama bumper stickers in student parking lots. In February 2008, the official Facebook group for Stanford Obama supporters had over 900 members. On election day, Barack Obama clinched 90 percent of the Stanford vote of the nearly 1000 students who cast their ballots at the GCC according to an exit poll conducted by The Daily. It was Obamania.<\/p>\n
That was a year ago.<\/p>\n
Now, the once white-hot excitement over Obama\u2019s candidacy is more lukewarm. In many cases, the resounding cry of \u201cYes We Can\u201d has devolved into a faint murmur.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe enthusiasm is just not there now,\u201d Parker said. \u201cThe support for the president has definitely decreased. Students like him as a person, but they\u2019re very disappointed in the job he\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nationally, Obama\u2019s approval rating has dipped below 50 percent and Democrats have been on the defensive in the last few weeks trying to defend many of Obama\u2019s policy initiatives.<\/p>\n
Hirav Gandhi \u201810, a member of the Stanford Conservative Society, is unsurprised by Obama\u2019s plummeting national approval numbers but thinks Stanford\u2019s political climate isn\u2019t representative of national sentiment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally think that the worst that you get on campus \u2014 aside from groups on the extreme left or right \u2014 is general indifference,\u201d Gandhi said. \u201cPeople think, yeah, Obama had a rough year. That\u2019s definitely a change in student perception of Obama from the enamored adoration he got last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
While enthusiasm for the 44th president has petered off in many circles, for the die-hard Obama fans, the enthusiasm gap isn\u2019t totally unexpected.<\/p>\n
Zev Karlin-Neumann \u201811 went into the campaign realizing that while Obama was a compelling candidate, he was battling structural issues from the outset and could only deliver so much.<\/p>\n
A little over a year ago, Karlin-Neumann lived and breathed Obama. He canvassed swing districts, registered voters, and debated for the Illinois senator. He was one of the 130 students who road-tripped to Nevada every other weekend throughout the campaign. Karlin-Neumann has noticed that the Obama fervor has leveled off since the campaign days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw a friend yesterday who was one of the people I had road-tripped with a few times during the campaign and he was commenting on this freeze of federal spending,\u201d Karlin-Neumann said. \u201cHe said something like \u2018Well, what would you expect from this president, it\u2019s been a disappointing year.\u2019 And it made me kind of sad because he was someone who was putting a lot of effort into the campaign a year ago. I think there has been a letdown in a number of quarters, without a doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Karlin-Neumann, a history and political science double major, worked in the Senate in Stanford in Washington last quarter and said that even as someone who is plugged into politics, it is difficult to stay on top of the policy issues post-campaign. That disconnect sparks cynicism, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA campaign is just more exciting,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople can grasp a horserace more easily \u2014 who\u2019s up and who\u2019s down. Is this going to be the speech that decides the campaign? Getting into the intricacies of the issues is hard to understand. People tune out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parker agreed with Karlin-Neumann that when you\u2019re out of the heat of a campaign, problem sets and schoolwork trump politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cTraditionally on college campuses, you don\u2019t see the same level of political engagement unless there is something tangible that can be fulfilled \u2014 watching the news, signing petitions,\u201d Parker said. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t translated into a change. And students are more focused on the job hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n
But for Tommy Schultz \u201811, president of the Stanford Conservative Society, Obama\u2019s declining popularity isn\u2019t about the campaign being over. It\u2019s about students waking up to the issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlenty of Stanford students got caught up in the hope of his words have been disappointed with the reality of his actions,\u201d Schultz said in an e-mail to The Daily. \u201cWe have members who were skeptical all along, but I can\u2019t tell you how many students I\u2019ve talked to who regret succumbing to what was once cool and now remove any evidence of support from their Facebook [profile] or car bumper.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the campaign, the ground floor of The Axe and Palm and Old Union overflowed with students transfixed in front of TV screens watching Republican candidate John McCain and Obama battle it out on national television.<\/p>\n
Fast forward a year, to Obama\u2019s State of the Union address Wednesday night. The couches in Old Union that used to be jam-packed with people held a smattering of lounging students, many of whom were focused more on their homework than on Obama\u2019s words. Gone was the hushed anticipation, the exclamatory whoops, cheers and high fives that characterized last fall\u2019s election cycle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe State of the Union isn\u2019t the same adrenaline rush as a debate,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n
There was a fairly complacent reception to the speech \u2014 which focused largely on spurring job growth and getting the economy back on track \u2014 and most people thought that it wasn\u2019t a rousing address, but it got the job done.<\/p>\n
\u201cObama made some good points and was very eloquent,\u201d said Annissa Chitour \u201813. \u201cHe definitely called out Congress and said to get something done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have liked to hear more about healthcare, however,\u201d she continued. \u201cBut I understand that he had to focus on the economy and jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah Flamm \u201811 had similar reactions to the speech and said that while this was not an oratory landmark, Obama focused on the issues and struck a populist note that would resonate with viewers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI liked that he was so personable,\u201d Flamm said. \u201cObama always comes in, organizes and says things are going to be O.K.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what students like Parker and Karlin-Neumann \u2014 people who invested their GPAs, sleep schedules and weekends in the president \u2014 are banking on. Among the students who canvassed for Obama, there remains a stand-by-your man norm. They haven\u2019t lost confidence in Obama just yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cObama keeps on running into so many setbacks and problems, but if anyone can think of the best way to get through this situation, it\u2019s him,\u201d Parker said. \u201cOverall, I still trust him and believe in him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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