Diabolo’s, the student-run café in University College, left, packed in scores of students for an evening of election coverage. The screen at the front of the room switched back and forth between CNN and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The crowd was rooting for John Kerry; announcements of Kerry wins on CNN prompted applause. Howard Tam, vice president external on the Students Administrative Council, was watching and hoping for a Bush defeat because, he said, “I just don’t like what Bush is doing diplomatically and economically.” Tam came out to watch the election among other students because the event was a “good demonstration of what good student life could be.”
The anti-Bush sentiment was shared by Kristofer Jakobsson, who came to Diabolo’s to watch the coverage with his roommates since they don’t have cable in their apartment.
“Bush’s image is American, unilateral and not the kind of president who’s co-operating with the rest of the world,” he said. He added that the President “seems anti-intellectual.” Jakobsson said that Bush made decisions based on feelings and not facts and that he holds a “simple black and white view of the world.” His roommates, Angela Hevey and Nick Lacbouceur, said that they don’t know much about American politics and didn’t follow the election closely, but were cheering for Kerry because “everyone seems to hate Bush and like Kerry.”
There were at least a couple of Bush supporters in the crowd, however. Richard-who wouldn’t give his last name-said he has relatives in Alabama, Ohio and New York and said that they were all voting Republican. He said he supported Bush because he believed that the president showed strong leadership. “[Bush] scares me less than Kerry,” he said. On the impact the election will have on Canada, Richard said, “Republicans have been traditionally more free-trade; hopefully [this will bring] more jobs. I graduate next year; I gotta have a job.”
Shahreen Reza said she too was supporting the President. She said that she disapproved of Kerry and that she was backing Bush “because he’s such a horrible president… If you’re going to bring in two bad guys, bring in the worst of the worst.”
