When John Kerry conceded the 2004 presidential election to George W. Bush on Wednesday morning, the mood on the overwhelmingly liberal Brandeis campus was one of anger, despair and disillusionment. Even many Red Sox fans had stopped smiling.The majority of Brandeis students had not simply favored electing John Kerry as the next president, but had assumed the coming of the apocalypse should Bush win another term.

Kerry followers had been supremely confident that their fellow students would show up in record numbers to vote for Kerry and that domestic economic troubles and foreign unrest would be enough to boot Bush from office.

None of these assumptions held true, however, and suddenly their deepest fears were realized.

"At first, I was just angry at the country," said Kat Gamer '06, a member of the Brandeis Democrats and Brandeis Students for Kerry.

"Bush hadn't proven himself in four years, so why should he get another

chance?"

After several days students said the anger had subsided, but it was followed

by a sense of despair.

"I had always felt that no matter what happens, there's always something you

can do to fix it, but for the first time in my life I was hopeless," Gamer

said.

For the campus minority-the Republicans-the mood was not so much one of

elation as it was relief.

"It was a relief that a competent, principled leader will remain in the White

House for four years," Jacob Baime '08, the vice president of the Brandeis

Republicans, said.

On Tuesday night, while campus Democrats sat in shock as the map became

gradually redder, Brandeis Republicans saw their faith in President Bush

validated.

"I expected President Bush to win because the American people trust him to

prosecute the war on terrorism and keep America safe and that was the

transcendent issue of this election," Baime said.

Despite their satisfaction with the outcome of the election, some Republicans

felt the national media's perceived liberal bias was obvious on Tuesday night

and that it put a damper on their celebration.

"I have to criticize the mainstream media for denying us a victory party on

Nov. 3," Baime said. "I was disappointed with CNN's reluctance to call states

for Bush when he had clearly won."

For many of the disappointed Democrats, much soul-searching has taken place

over the past week. Some students looking for answers attended a forum in the

Shapiro Atrium last night titled, "What Just Happened? Examining the 2004

election."

At the forum, Professors Jacob Cohen (AMST) and Richard Francis (POL) gave

their opinions on the outcome of the election and its impact. Francis said

that he had predicted that Kerry would win the election and even called it

for him last Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. But he believes that he was wrong for

several reasons.

"Kerry failed the likeability test," Francis told the assembled students. "He

was seen as patrician and aloof while trying to claim to represent the common

man."

Cohen also predicted that Kerry would win the election, but cited numerous

statistics to explain why the senator failed to be elected. According to

Cohen, 51 percent of women, 53 percent of Latinos and 54 percent of voters

aged 18 to 25 voted for Kerry. Cohen said he believes the major problem goes

beyond John Kerry's image, but extends to the image of liberals on the whole.

Cohen told a story about Democrats who have threatened to throw themselves

under Bush's car when it makes its way to his inauguration in January.

"These are not political people," Cohen said. "They are exhibitionist

narcissists who win votes for Bush. These people are religious

fundamentalists about the Democratic Party. Come on Democrats, be Democrats,

not depressives," Cohen implored.

Both Cohen and Francis spoke of the future of the Democratic Party as one of

rebuilding.

"There's nothing like a lover scorned," Cohen said. "What do the Democrats

need to do? I think they need to define themselves in a way John Kerry

didn't."

While Democrats nationwide have a long road ahead, this election has taught

the Democrats on campus that the oft-mentioned Brandeis bubble is truly not

an accurate depiction of America.

"Because I have lived in Massachusetts my whole life and raised by very

liberal parents, coming out of the election, I feel I am very out of touch

with how America feels," Gamer said.