The presidential election of 2004 proved to be a disappointment for many Southfield High School students.
About 120 million Americans voted in the election in which Republican incumbent George W. Bush won with 51 percent of the electoral votes, while Democratic Sen. John Kerry had 48.5 percent of the votes.
Before the election was actually over , Kerry called Bush and conceded, which upset senior Amanda Childress. Childress, who did some door-to-door campaigning for Kerry, said, “He just gave up. You never just give up.”
Childress wasn’t the only one who was campaigning for Kerry. Senior twins Marc and Marisa Taylor stood on street corners prior to the election sporting lime green t-shirts that said, “Vote For Kerry” in hopes of rallying more votes for the Yale educated democrat.
Along with campaigning for Kerry some students, such as seniors Jonathan Cole worked polls on election day, and Chanel Hamilton counted absentee ballots. Disgruntled Cole, after the election, said, “The voters made a mistake, and now there will be even higher gas prices and some people will probably move to Canada.”
Bush supporters were few and far between in the halls of the blue and gray, whose student body is 99 percent African-American.
Among the few Bush supporters was senior Christina Brown, who said, “I’m glad he’s back in the White House. He has experience, and that’s what we need right now.”
There were still skeptics that were weary of voting altogether. Senior Cortez Canada said, “One vote doesn’t matter, so I don’t care.” Canada says that even if he were old enough to vote, he would not have.
In the next four years, some of the Bush administration’s main goals will be insuring national security, safe-guarding the Social Security system, and improving public education.