Tufts: where more people watch the election than the Super Bowl twitter.com/mattmcd88/stat…
— Matt McDonald (@mattmcd88) November 7, 2012
Two weeks ago, I was standing among a throng of students in Hotung Café at Tufts University—a crowd burning in anticipation to learn the outcome of the presidential election.
I had left my quiet dorm room just ten minutes before with a friend of mine, after finishing my assignments, to witness this historic moment.
The area was packed; I could only cram into the room by jostling and shoving other students aside. The predictions for most of the eastern and southern states had already been announced; Governor Romney had a marginal lead over President Obama. After a while, the emcee announced that CNN’s prediction for Ohio, one of the key swing states, was out. Breaths were held, dead silence prevailed, and all eyes were fixed on the two TV screens.
***
In my mind I was transported back to the Afghan presidential elections in 2009.
The number of candidates was 22 times the number running in the American elections – 44 candidates – yet the thrill of the election was barely noticeable. In fact, I don’t even recall following the news about it. No matter how many candidates there were to choose from, there was little faith that any of them could or would bring much change.