“Everything I’ve seen about him is too good to be true. I mean, here’s somebody — I’m almost cynical. I figure they’re gonna find out he’s a pedophile next week or something. It’s just too wonderful, his family, his children, everything about him is very hopeful. Although, the job he’s got to do is overwhelming.”
(Andrew Godwin, 74, of Syracuse; retired; registered Democrat)
“It was not an impressive speech; it was an impressive spectacle. The people made it impressive to me, he did not make it impressive to me. The man’s a chameleon to me. He changes with the situation and the context. That doesn’t give me a lot of hope for a true leader.”
(Bob Gardino, 69, of Syracuse; retired; registered Republican)
“I tried not to get into the whole, ‘okay, he’s black so I got to vote for him kind of thing.’ But, on the other hand, it is for me. I mean, this is — I kind of put that up there with the Berlin Wall coming down, ya know. ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe this.’ That it was even an option. For so long it wasn’t even an option. Yeah, you can be a senator, you can be a governor depending on where you are. That might work, but this was never really an option. So it’s kind of cool that it went from a possibility to a reality.”
(Susan Dean, 45, of Syracuse; secretary; no party affiliation)
“These people, they went ga-ga over this guy and the hyperbole… anything he could say. I mean, where’s he going today to get his start-ups to sprinkle to say that everything’s going to be okay in this country? I mean, the stock market went down 300 points yesterday. It went down that many points on the day he got elected. I mean, there’s not a lot of confidence out there. I don’t feel any more comfortable today. As a matter of fact, I feel less comfortable.”
(Ed McLaughlin, 62, of Syracuse; retired; registered Republican)
“He’s so inspiring and so uplifting, and I was just very impressed with what he had to say. That, I think, McCain didn’t show as much. And, he’s so even. His temperament is so balanced. I really appreciated that. He’s like a rock star. No, he was better than a rock star.”
(Myra Seikaly, 48, of Syracuse; benefits administrator; registered Democrat)
For Democracywise, I’m Mark Banick.
(Mark Banick is a junior newspaper major with a minor in religion.)
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