Obama wins nomination in mock balloting

By Tyler Vogler

Barack Obama won the Democratic presidential nomination in Western’s Mock Presidential Election on Tuesday, with over 60 percent of the delegates. It was no surprise to Obama supporters, who were confident about an Obama victory.

Among a stage of signs and cheering supporters, Terri VanMeenen delivered the Obama campaign’s nomination speech, explaining America is at a “crossroads.” The speech, actually a letter from Obama to his Mock Election campaign, called for a “new kind of politics” where elected officials represent who they were elected to serve. The speech cited the need for a change in politics that is “national in scope, but local in origin.”

Obama went on to grab 2,692 delegates and completely carried seven states including Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico and West Virginia. Obama received votes in every state except Vermont.

In an interesting turn of events, Obama received more votes in New York than its U.S. senator, fellow nominee Hillary Clinton, leading many attendees to question the validity of the Mock Election results.

“It’s a pretty biased crowd,” said Katie Anderson, a campaign manager for Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Even the Obama campaign acknowledged the discrepancies in votes.

“It’s unrealistic in terms of a real election,” said Jessie Kallman, an Obama campaign manager, “but it’s important because students are getting excited about the process.”

Optimism was steady through the night, even after the Kucinich campaign called for its followers to throw their votes in favor of Clinton’s campaign.

“It’s important we support other candidates. We’re all the same team,” Kallman said in the campaign’s nomination acceptance speech. Obama’s VanMeenen agreed: “it’s good to support other Democrats.”

Closing the acceptance speech, Kallman called on Democrats to support John Edwards as a vice presidential candidate. The Obama camp was actively campaigning for a joint Obama/Edwards ticket from the beginning of the night, even before Obama won his party’s nomination for president.

John Edwards later won the vice presidential nomination in a voice vote, beating out Joe Biden and a failed nomination for Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert.

Obama and Edwards will represent the Democrats and square off against the Republican ticket of Rudy Giuliani and John McCain when the Presidential Mock Election concludes Monday night in Western Hall.

Two additional candidates will vye for votes next week. Libertarians and Green Party members will select their nominees in the Union's LaMoine Room on Thursday evening.