A Public Affairs Residential College resident walked into the dorm’s television lounge in pajamas Tuesday evening and saw a map of the United States with some states colored blue and red projected onto a giant wall.

“Wow, this is really nerdy,” she said.

The residents who had gathered to watch the election coverage launched into a discussion.

“You’re at Northwestern and this is the nerdiest thing you have ever seen?” another resident replied, pointing to her T-shirt that read “Nerdwestern.”

“I just love democracy,” a third student said.

NU’s political junkies celebrated Tuesday’s midterm elections with a mix of activism and party-going. Residents of PARC watched election coverage on CNN, coloring the states red and blue to track the night’s races. They rotated the maps and continued to color them as election results were announced. Red, white and blue snacks were served.

“There is definitely some intensity to the election,” said Weinberg sophomore Amy Niederberger, president of PARC. “We tried to get people out of their rooms earlier to go to a fireside, and some people said no to wait for the polls to come in.”

While most students settled down in front of their TVs to watch vote returns, 27 members of NU College Democrats were returning from an afternoon canvassing for House of Representatives Candidate Tammy Duckworth. The former Army helicopter pilot, who was disabled in Iraq, was running to unseat U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois’ 6th Congressional District.

Between traveling time and canvassing, the students worked for 10 hours. Each member was paid $100 by the Duckworth campaign to fan out across the district, knock at doors and motivate voters to the polls. They began at the campaign headquarters in Lombard, Ill., an hour away from the Evanston campus.

“We’re not finished till the polls close,” College Democrats President Andrew London said in the mid-afternoon. “There’s one thing I will promise you, we will not lose this race because we didn’t tell someone to vote.”

By the end of the day, it was clear that Duckworth would lose her bid. But the Democratic surge nationwide gave the College Democrats kept up their spirits.

“The entire day, we thought things were positive,” said London, a SESP junior. “We’re a little disappointed about that race, but we’re very happy about what happened nationwide.”

College Republicans did not organize a formal canvassing operation, but individual members had contributed to local campaigns, Treasurer Chelsea Thompson said. The Music and Weinberg sophomore was planning to sing at a possible victory party for State Senate candidate Sue Simpson.

Early in the day, the Republicans said they were confident in their candidates. And as far as the governor’s race between Judy Baar Topinka and Rod Blagojevich, they said they saw it as a win-win situation.

“Either way, Blagojevich is going to jail by the end of the year,” he said. “I can’t imagine him getting through the year without being indicted.”

Of course, there were those whose interests were far from Illinois. Back at PARC, Communication sophomore Benjamin Weiss was one of the few students left in front of the TV as the night wore on. His mind was on the Connecticut Senate race.

“I’m very pleased with this election,” he said. “As long as Joe Lieberman wins, I’m happy.”

– Staff Reports