Students weigh in on inaugural address

Whether you like him or not, there's no denying that President Barack Obama knows how to captivate his audience. He's proved that time and time again, the most recent example being his second inaugural address.

While the speech itself was effective and well delivered as usual, most of the world's attention seemed to go to Beyonce's lip-synching and the actual cost of the spectacle, which ranged up to $170 million.

But what about the issues?

How are Auburn student's reacting to Obama's inaugural address, the issues he approached and the reality of the upcoming four years?

We've asked different students with varying political views from all around Auburn's campus what they believe is in store for America with Obama's next term, and how they felt overall about his second inaugural address.

Jacob Taunton, sophomore in Pre-Med, acknowledges Obama's charismatic nature as a public speaker and the delivery of the address.

"There is no denying that Barack Obama is a fantastic public speaker, and I think a lot of his success as a politician is accredited to this fact," Taunton said. "If you voted for him or not, his inauguration speech was very good and promoted a theme of unity among the nation, which I think we all needed to hear after arguably one of the most divisive elections in recent memory. Hopefully he can continue to put efforts towards further unifying the country throughout his next term."

Liz Conn, a senior in journalism and Spanish, also gives input on the address.

"I thought that his inaugural address addressed more liberal topics than I was expecting. He talked about global warming, he also talked explicitly about gay marriage which is something that I think he's tended to shy away from before," Conn said "Now that he's in his second term, he doesn't have to worry about getting re-elected, so I think he's more likely to go after a liberal agenda. I can't say I'm entirely shocked. I was more upset about Beyonce lip-synching the Star Spangled Banner than I was about his address."

Sam Wilcox, sophomore in economics and history, had the unique opportunity to attend this year's inauguration. On how he scored the tickets, Wilcox said,

"I've worked with a congressman in Nashville, Jim Cooper, for the last two summers and I just sort of entered a pool for tickets for constituents and got them. Then, through mutual friends and a couple connections, I was able to also get tickets to the parade and the Tennessee Delegation Inaugural Ball. It was cool."

When asked about any policies he was interested in seeing changed or enacted, Wilcox said "I think there should be tighter gun control. I'd like to see some of those policies enacted. We've also got to get our economy under control, we've got to get climate change under control-there's no shortage of problems. I'd like to see these enacted, realistically though, it's anyone's guess."

Most students had similar concerns about the fate of the economy and what gun control laws will be put in place.

Will McManus, secretary of College Republicans, said, "I think the policies I am most interested in seeing enacted probably won't happen in the next four years. However, I am interested in seeing what policies Congress and the president can agree on to fix the economic state of the nation. I also think it will be interesting to see the future of gun control and how that issue is going to evolve."

Jacob Dean, the president of College Democrats, is optimistic about Obama's next term.

"The country is still improving and he laid out his vision for what he wants to do with the next four years which is making sure women get equal pay for equal work, making sure that people can marry who they love, making sure our soldiers who come home from war are treated with respect...those kinds of things are all things that American people can subscribe to," Dean said. "One thing that I think would be a great policy would be the enactment of the Dream Act. I would also like to see an investment in infrastructure in building our roads and bridges, more investment in education and I'd like to see a balanced way of reducing our debt."

Wesley Clendinen, junior in pre-vet, is hoping for more unity between parties.

"I believe that one goal of Obama's next four years should be to try and mend the relations between the Democratic and Republican parties. Our government has become so partisan that it is almost impossible to pass any major legislation. This was especially apparent in the past months with the difficulty Republicans and Democrats faced in agreeing on the correct path on which to proceed regarding the "fiscal cliff" and the United State's debt ceiling," Clendinen said. "I know that pushing our government in a more bi-partisan direction is not necessarily a concrete idea or policy, however, I feel that it is a necessity if we are going to continue to be a powerful force in the global theater as well as have a strong and effective governing system."

Whatever your political belief, the hope that this term will produce positive change is always there. But with that hope, there is also a fear that this term will just be an extension of Obama's last term.

Conn said, "I think it will definitely just be an extension of his last term. I think his leadership style is very hands off and while some people might think that's a good thing, I don't really think that it's the most efficient way to run a government." Conn said. "I think he's going to really pursue the more liberal agenda because he doesn't have to stay in the middle of the road to try to appease voters."

Clendinen also believes Obama will continue into his second term in a similar fashion as his last.

"For the most part, I feel that President Obama will proceed into his second term with the same general goals as his last term. He'll most likely utilize the next four years to try and complete anything he was unable to finish during his past term in office," Clendinen said "Granted, with each new term there come unforeseen challenges that he will have to face and these can delay the progress he makes with his personal agenda."

Wilcox is hopeful for Obama's second term in office.

"I think we're gonna see a lot of carry over from his last term but I mean, he was re-elected. We live in a place in Alabama where it went to Romney, like, 75-25 and we live in this sort of vacuum of conservatism in Auburn but I think the country is open to Obama's ideas right now," Wilcox said. "I don't think it's going to be radical. I don't think it's gonna be as radical as maybe Fox news paints it out to be or as progressive as MSNBC paints it out to be, but I do think it's going to be sort of an extension of his first term. I hope so, at least."

"Personally, I do think Obama will do things a little different. I think he will be more aggressive pushing forward his ideas of what he thinks is best for the nation because he does not have to fear another election," Taunton said. "In regards to the nation's financial woes, I do not think he will change much because none of his previous actions have proven to me that he feels the need to. Our debt is absolutely massive and growing by the second and he has not done much to aid with the reversing of that trend."

There are many who believe that this term will have similar aspects as the last, but that America will also see change with the things presented in the inaugural address.

McManus expands on this idea.

"I believe Obama will do most things differently this term. Obama is a President that ran for re-election from the moment he first swore in four years ago. It will be interesting to see Obama the President without his re-election determining his policy moves," McManus said. "I believe that most of the Inaugural address foreshadowed what is to come."