U. surprised about election

After the streamers and confetti came down in Little Rock and the balloons deflated in Houston, the day after Election Day at the University was almost like any other. Scattered throughout campus, kiosks uninformed of the latest turn of events still held campaign posters advertising politicians. But while Bush and Perot supporters were inconspicuous amid the crowds on Locust Walk, Clinton supporters were easy to spot with prominent buttons on their backpacks and smiles on their faces. College Democrats President Scott Sher said last night that Tuesday's race was "a great election." "I can't say I'm surprised -- we expected a landslide, and we got a landslide," Sher said. "I think the reason that happened is that Bill Clinton was a better candidate." Many students said they were pleased with the turn that the election had taken. "I'm very, very happy about the election," College freshman Josh Markman said. "I think it'll be great to have a president who is part of a different generation, with a different perspective," College senior Anna Buckingham said. "I think things were getting pretty stale." "I'm quite pleased with the election," Wharton sophomore Jennifer Wu said. "I think that Clinton can definitely help us out of this country's recession, and that's why I voted for him." Wu and many other students said they were surprised that Tuesday's election seemed to be such a landslide. "I was a little surprised, because I thought that Bush would probably have taken more states than he actually did," Wu said. College sophomore Katie Simons said she was surprised that the country had taken a step away from the political status quo. "I was so worried that people would go to the polls and back down, and not be courageous enough to vote for something different," Simons said. "People just had enough, and I think that that is showing." And College sophomore Troy Prinkey said that although he is a registered Republican, he voted for Clinton on Tuesday. "I'm a swing voter, because I thought Clinton stood more for what I believe in," Prinkey said, citing Clinton's college loan payback program and health care programming as examples. Many students commented that although independent candidate Ross Perot did not make a tremendous showing in the election, the fact that he did make a showing at all was a reflection of the nation's dissatisfaction. "I actually thought his showing was pretty impressive, considering he's a third candidate," Buckingham said. "There's a pretty big constituency in the country that is pretty unhappy with the two parties." Wharton senior Aron Schwartz, co-chairperson of Penn for Perot, said the election was a "cathartic experience." "An organization supporting Perot will continue to exist, and while we hope that Clinton is able to fix the problems of this country, we believe that if he is unable to do so, someone from Perot's party or Perot himself will be able to step up to the plate in 1996 and take a swing at the presidency," Schwartz said. College Republicans President Dana Lynch did not return phone calls last night.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.