While political gurus and pundits spent the eve of the 2004 presidential election carefully watching polls and counting electoral votes, many University of Wisconsin students casually watched the race over a cold beer or did not keep tabs on the events at all.
UW graduate student Nicholas Squires decided to watch results trickle in while drinking among raucous cheers at State Street Brats.
Squires said the 75 percent discount of the weekly “flip night” drink special was a big draw, but he would not have gone out had it not been election night.
“I wanted to come out where the action was … [However], I wish it was busier,” he said. While glancing over his shoulder at big-screen televisions projecting election news coverage, Squires said he planned to leave the establishment inebriated.
The Memorial Union’s Rathskeller also drew a large crowd with a big-screen television.
UW senior Cassie Wangsness said she and her friends bought a pitcher of beer and came to the Union to ease the tension of the close presidential race and find the company of a group to support their emotions.
“When people say this is the most important election of our lifetime, it is so real,” Wangsness said. “This (election) has been [a priority] over school the past couple weeks.”
UW law student Andrew Holton also attended the Union, but decided to sit in a separate room to study while keeping an ear on the news.
“I’m here to study, but I’m hoping as the evening goes on the crowd will build … I might even at some point decide to put my books down and [focus on the coverage],” Holton said.
A steady crowd was in attendance at the Union beginning at 7 p.m., according to Holton.
“There is definitely a sense of importance tonight — I imagine I won’t get as much reading done as I had previously hoped,” he said.
Students living in university housing paid heed to election results, too.
UW freshman Brian Evans watched a television in Ed’s Express at Gordon Commons.
“I wouldn’t usually be watching TV right now, but I am [because of the election],” Evans said. “It is the future of America right here.”
For some students, the election was a periphery to their daily life.
Lesley Finnegan, a UW freshman, decided to spend the night studying at College Library.
“I’m really curious to find out who wins,” Finnegan said, adding she was nervous if she made the right election choices.
“This is the first time I’ve ever voted … it was a really big decision,” she said.
Finnegan said she preferred studying to watching election coverage because it was out of her hands.
“We’ll see what the rest of the country says,” she said.
Jordan Williams also spent part of his night at the library.
“I’m trying to go about my daily routine — [It is] kind of hard not to want to break out of it and keep checking the elections,” he said. “Me and my roommates plan on staying up to catch the end of [the election results] and see how it goes.”
Williams said he thought Election Day was different for most students.
“Today is more out of the ordinary than normal. People who don’t normally pay attention to politics devote a whole day to it,” he said.
For UW sophomore Tim Marquard, the day was just like any other, except for an exam.
“I don’t really care so much [about the elections] … I’m just mostly apathetic,” Marquard said, adding that homework and exams were more important to focus on than the presidential race.
