For most students at Syracuse University, the 2016 presidential election cycle is the first they’ve been on campus for.

But others in the community have been around for past elections and have reflected on the climate of those elections, compared to this one.

In November 2008, Don Mitchell, an SU professor of geography, lived only a mile off campus. He still remembers the historical nature of that election.

“There was a sense of victory and hope from electing an African American as president,” Mitchell said. “A lot of people invested in that hope with the sense that it was going to be progressive presidency. I still remember when I lived close to campus, and this campus exploded. People were outside cheering and screaming and carrying on about it.”

Many concerns at the time, especially for students, focused on what Barack Obama would do to help alleviate the repercussions of the great recession, Mitchell said. Change was on the mind for many, yet Obama’s win and eventual presidency also garnered much disapproval, he said.

“First of all there was the backlash, the racist backlash. That set in really fast,” he said. “Change was incremental at most in terms of a lot of issues, but I think the change in having an African American president was monumentally important.”

On Election Day in 2008, Obama held a 52 percent approval rating among Americans, whereas in 2012, that number fell to 48 percent. The voter turnout in 2012 decreased by 13 million votes as well, yet this year’s election is expected to exceed 2012’s voter turnout with more than 40 million votes already cast.

At this point, many are still in awe of how the election ran its course. Grant Reeher, a political science professor at SU, said he finds Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s candidacy to be the most shocking.

“The most surprising thing is certainly the way that Donald Trump won the Republican nomination,” he said. “A very close second was the astonishing challenge that Bernie Sanders made to what was thought to be a coronation for Hillary Clinton. And then of course the fact that despite all the mistakes made by Trump, that the race is as close as it is, as of the week before anyway.”

Joseph Carni, who serves on the Syracuse Common Council, said he believes the election has been overtaken by the media, deflecting focus from what is important.

“I would say this time around, the candidates, especially on the national level for presidency really, haven’t started or focused the discussion on the issues,” he said.

Carni added that local elections have been overshadowed, especially due to the high-profile nature of this year’s general election.

Even though the next election is four years away, Reeher said this year’s race has established new grounds for politicians in terms of how to garner support.

“In the future, others will be looking at Trump’s mobilization, if not his rhetorical style,” he said. “Assuming Clinton wins, however, it will remain a testament to the value of having a strong ground organization and get-out-the-vote effort.”

Published on November 8, 2016 at 1:28 am