International Students wish they could vote on Election Day

By Melissa Bounoua

November 4th, it is eventually the Election day. Students at MU are excited, but some of them won’t vote, even if they would love to. Because they are not US citizens. However, you can hear them talking politics, meet them at political meeting or even  find out that they are involved in a party.

“The US Election doesn’t only raise the attention of American people” explains Saleem Alhabash, a PHD student at MU from Palestine, who conducts a survey about International students and the US Elections.* “It is an historical moment that will influence the US Foreign policy so that’s normal for international students to be involved“.

So far, the preliminary results of the survey showed that students from all over the world answered the survey. “200 students answered the survey from 42 different countries. We had answers from really rare countries such as Trinidad and Tobago or Serbia and Montenegro or Vatican city” Results show that:

–90% of the International students would take part in the Elections by voting if they were US citizens;

-almost 59 % expressed their unwillingness to vote for McCain; compared to only 4% expressed their unwillingness to vote for Obama.

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Prakash Jayabalan, 28, is an English PHD student in Pathobiology at MU. Not only is he really interested in the US elections, but he also voluntereed for the Obama campaign. “I have volunteered at Obama rallies, recruiting volunteers and given out leaflets after I first attended some Obama campaign meetings. But, being a non-US citizen I feel uncomfortable in advising people to vote a certain way.” If he was a US citizen, Prakash Jayalaban he would love to vote: “I would definitely vote. I would vote for Barack Obama though I do admire and respect John McCain. I feel very strongly Barack Obama would be the best leader to heal this divide and I feel strongly that his economic, foreign and energy policies are most akin to my own.”

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Lasse Berg Sorensen at the Obama rally in Columbia, on Thursday October 30th.

Lasse Berg Sorensen, a Danish student at MU, was at the Obama rally last thursday. “I already went to Kansas City to see Barack Obama two weeks ago and now he is here in the city where I study, I am so lucky to see one of the presidential candidate.“

But Sorensen also had his own political point of view. “Missouri is known as a bellwether state and so I think candidates know the importance of Missouri”. McCain was here briefly last week and Palin was in Cape Girardeau saturday.” As the rally went on, he listened carefully to what the democratic candidate had to say: “He spoke a lot about environmental issues and in Denmark we are really concerned by that subject.”

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Benjamin Banizette, 21, French student at MU in Political Sciences.

Benjamin Banizette, 21, is a French student at MU, who studies politics.  He likes to analyse the presidential candidates’ speeches. He was at the Obama rally Thursday night with other international students: “I am really excited to see how Sen. Obama lead his meeting tonight.”  “And, as a European student, I am really looking forward to know what the next American president will change because it will have an influence on my country“.

Young McCain Supporters: “Obama disrespects the flag”

By Baptiste Etchegaray

Photos: Melissa Bounoua & Charlotte Pudlowki

It’s not that often we hear from McCain supporters in Columbia, MO. The liberal island surrounded by an ocean of conservatives makes local Republicans’ daily lives quite tough. Yet they still resist and when their hero is coming in town for a quick visit (see stories below) they surely respond the invitation and feel happy to express, at last, their opinions.

Why do they support McCain (or do not support Obama)?

“Experience” and “Military background” were as expected commonly cited. But surprisingly, the young Republican voters who attended the “Come-To-See-McCain-While-He-Leaves-The-Smokehouse BarBQ-To-Get-In-His-Car-Meeting” were more radical. They go for John McCain because they simply “need respect“. Respect? “Respect for the flag, for the country“. According to them indeed, Barack Obama does a very bad job by “not putting the hand on his heart” during national anthem and “no wearing national flag“. All in all, he “doesn’t like the country.”

Young voters Sadie Turnbull, Jessica Schlager and Cole Mendenhall

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Do they feel depressed because of bad polls for McCain?

Not at all! They are still very optimistic about the outcome of the election. And this for three reasons:

Karen Bell, Debbie Jones, Craig Chrisnan

i) It’s not over until the votes are actually counted (Karine Bell)

ii) Poll institutes are not trustworthy: They can just say they poll and actually make up the numbers. By the way “I’ve never been polled” and “I’m like: where do they get some?” (Debbie Jones)

iii) Obama’s being ahead in the polls is just because the people that are supporting him are mostly Black people and they go for him only because of his race (Craig Chrisnan)

Lost libertarian in a bi-partisan crowd

By Charlotte Pudlowski

Yesterday, while presidential candidate John McCain was having burgers in a dinner in Columbia, MO, a small crowd had gathered to welcome him. Not only Democrats and Republicans (read here) but also a libertarian:Wes Upchurch.

This 21 years old web-designer actually runs for Missouri secretary of State. And he supports Bob Barr, the libertarian candidate. In a recent Gallup poll that was listing Third-Party candidates, Bob Barr is said to be receiving 1% of voter choices (just as Cynthia McKinney, Green Party). But according to Upchurch, “A vote for either of the main candidates is a wasted vote“, and he claims, against what Gallup, CNN/Time, Fox News/Rasmussen and any other polls found say, that Bob Barr is polling 6% nationally

But you may think that still, between John McCain and Barack Obama, there is a difference- and that Bob Barr being a former Republican, Libertarians are closer to Republicans than to Democrats. It is not Upchurch’s opinion. John McCain, despite the appearances, also pushes for big government, Upchurch contends, and he adds: “McCain seems fake, and I want something real“.

When I asked him if, since third-party candidates kept on losing elections, maybe there was another way to change the system, he started explaining the improving situation of small candidates, through Ron Paul‘s relative success during the Primaries.

So with all his libertarian ideas and ideals, Wes Upchurch runs for the Secretary of state and is hoping -very optimistically- to get 4% of the votes.

And McCain eventually came in Columbia…But why?

By Mélissa Bounoua

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It took us a really long time to figure out whether Sen. john McCain would stop in Columbia on Monday October 20th. Since last Thursday, there were some rumours saying the Republican presidential nominee would visit Columbia between his visit in Saint Charles and Belton, MO.

It is only at 9:30 on Monday morning that local newspapers learnt that McCain would land at the Columbia Regional Airport in the afternoon. His airplane arrived around 12:25 pm and he had lunch at a diner, Buckingham’s. After that, he shook some hands outside the diner for ten minutes and then he left. So why did McCain come to Columbia?  Was there any the political value of that stop?

“It was only a lunch stop with few additionnal implications” said MU political science political science professor Jay Dow. Indeed, John McCain came to discuss with business owner at Buckingham’s Steakhouse. He wanted to have some testimonies to learn more on the ground. But no meeting was held and McCain supporters in Columbia may have been disapppointed.

It is not uncommon in politics to stop by in a city without doing a meeting. But the fact is that Missouri is a crucial state for McCain. Especially since Sen. Barack Obama came saturday and 100,000 people rallied with him at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and 75,000 in Kansas City later that day.

It was surprising that McCain did’nt spend more time in Columbia, a crucial Republican battleground.

“McCain probably met key supporters or advisors.  Perhaps he just likes good barbecue.  He had earlier obligations in St. Louis area and later obligations in the Kansas City area.  To have lunch in either of those areas would have required a larger event.” explains MU Graduate Studies Director in Political Science James W. Endersby.

As a college town, Columbia is a often considered as a liberal city and McCain did’nt choose to appear on campus where a lot of Obama’s event happened.

“Although the city of Columbia trends Democrat, the areas surrounding the city trend Republican.  The Columbia media market reaches all sorts of voters.  Missouri is a key state that resembles the nation in many respects, so Missouri is often a battleground in presidential elections.“adds James W. Endersby.

So McCain’s appearance  defintely mattered to the media, but Republican suporters from Columbia may have been disappointed that the republican only shook few hands. In a state where it is proved to be politically flexible, voting for all but one of the winning candidates in presidential elections since 1904,  McCain’s may not have convert any Democratic supporters, but he might have succeeded in rallying his supporters with only two weeks until Election day.

First presidential debate: Republican reactions

By Baptiste Etchegaray et Charlotte Pudlowski

Republicans had gathered on Friday, at the Columbia Victory Headquarters, located at 1301 Vandiver Rd. to watch the first presidential debate.

Ryan Robinson, undergrad student at MU (elementary education) is a volunteer. “McCain was great” he says, and “he was right to suspend the campaign“. His friend Isaac Wibberg, who majors in sociology at Lincoln University (Jefferson city) explains :”there is no doubt he is going to benefit from this decision“.

Isaac Wibberg and Ryan Robinson outside the Missouri Republicans headquarter in Columbia after the 9/26 presidential debate

What did you think about McCain’s performance?

Do you think he was right to suspend his campaign?

Don’t you think it was a strategy because he was going down in the polls?

Do you think he’s going to benefit from it?

Live Blogging from Columbia: The first presidential debate

From Kayotea, dowtown Columbia, MO

By Mélissa Bounoua

Friday night on East Broadway in Columbia, tension is arousing at Kayotea, a tea shop where the Democratic party planned a watch party. Both Republican and Democratic candidates will be debating on foreign policy and national security.  Ten Millions are expected to tune in this first debate. Minutes after minutes, reporter from Rendez-voUS.08 gives you the atmsophere from the inside of Kayotea.  (To read it, scroll down and start at the bottom)

22:02: The place is now empty, Kayotea will host other watch parties in the future.

21:53: People from the Democratic campaign are really happy with the debate. “Obama did great, he showed he was able to deal with foreign policy and that was not only a subject for old-fashioned politics and that change can also go through diplomacy“, one of them conclude.

The staff from Kayotea enjoyed receiving this political meeting “We know the Democratic Party in Columbia, I am for Obama but Mc Cain could have come, it is just that the Obama office is not that far and we them pretty well. But we are concerned, we are running a small business in a bad economy, so we were glad to host a political event because we will be directly impacted by those future policies“.

21:41: Applauses the debate is over, people are living quickly. “Thank you for coming everybody. We’re now only one point away in the polls from John McCain. Tomorrow we’ll meet to convince more people in the community, join us.“

21:37: Laughs. “Sen. Barack Obama has not the knowledge to deal with those issues” claims McCain.“Bullshit” screams someone inside Kayotea, some others are agreeing.

21:27: McCain starts his conclusion. “America is safer now than after 9/11 but we still have a long way to go”. “We are safer in some ways, but we really have a long way to go. The biggest threat to the United States we face is nuclear weapons.” answers Obama. “We also have to focus on Al-Qaeïda and not only on Iraq. We have to restore that sense of America as a shining beacon.”

21:25: Energy Issues. Obama stresses the need for America to invest on energy and stop being dependent on other countries: “It’s vital for our economy and our national security“.

21:16: Russia. “We have to recognize we have to give a sharp response to the invasion of Georgia” says Barack Obama. “We want to work with the Russians, but they have to respect the International rules of diplomacy”.

21:04: Still silent, people listening to the debate. Candidates are now discussing presence in Iraq and what will be the strategy to deal with Iran. “We should discuss with Iran” claims Obama.

20:53:  At some point, Internet connection is broken in the room, debate stop on the screen. Get back few seconds later. Candidates discuss issues about Afghanistan and Pakistan. “If you have to do things, you do things” McCain underlined the fact that Obama haven’t been to Iraq for the last 900 days .

20:43: Boos in the room, John McCain  is talking about change in Iraq: “The strategy has succeeded and we are winning in Iraq. We’re gonna stay an ally in the region. They were a lot at stake there and General Petraus did a great job.” Obama answers, wondering if “America should have gone there in the first place. We have to use our military wisely“.”Yeeaah, he is right“, we can hear here and there among Obama supporters.

20:32: “Bush Budget policy is wrong, spending 10 million in Iraq is not the solution“, Sen. Obama says. As for every moment when Obama obviously criticizes the ongoing administration, spectator smile and applause.

20:27: While candidates keep debating,  of the debate sign sheets to give their personal information. A main part of the Obama’s campaign strategy is based on grass-roots meetings. All people who were here tonight will receive e-mails tomorrow.

Joe Biden:”There is too much anxiety”

By Mélissa Bounoua

Vice-presidential Democratic nominee Joe Biden (Senator of Delaware) made the trip to Columbia, MO last Tuesday morning. At the Activity and Recreation Center, in front of a crowded room, he mainly focused his speech on anxiety about the economic future of American households. During an hour, he targetted the Missouri middle-class, using the same rhetoric (with the same success) than Obama in Denver: “It’s not that John McCain doesn’t care about your problems, he just doesn’t get it“.

The last part of the meeting was devoted to questions and answers, an interaction with the audience which seldom happens in French political meetings. Supporters raised their concerns on taxes, education, and so on. Joe Biden, who was walking in the middle of the audience, answered each of them with long applause.

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Looking for the Republicans in Columbia

“Tiger” posted a comment recently pointing out that, so far, rendezvoUS.08 had only covered the Democrats. “Tiger” is perfectly right and we apologize for this (temporary) unbalanced coverage. Of course, this webblog is not going to be only on the Democratic campaign. We will closely look at the Republicans as well. Otherwise the whole project would have no interest.

The thing is we just got in Columbia three weeks ago and it is obvious that the city is mostly liberal, Democratic staff being much more aggressive and successful in campaigning here than their Republican counterparts. From the crowded Watch Party at “The Blue Note” the night of Barack Obama’s acceptance speech to Howard Dean’s visit on campus last Saturday and Joe Biden’s coming tomorrow. The Democrats set up some significant political events in Columbia last days that we could’nt skip. We must admit there have not been equivalent events on the GOP side so far.