President elect Barack Obama and Proposition 8 were the topics at hand at the election debriefing hosted by SF State political science professors on Thursday.

The roundtable discussion, which was open to SF State faculty and students, was held to encourage debates about who won the election and why. Issues of race, religious definitions of marriage and the effects of the election were discussed. Professors Francis Neely, Robert Smith and David Tabb presented their ideas and opinions first, and then questions and comments from the audience of 13 were thrown at the panel.

“We usually have one of these political discussions once a month,” said Kathy Johnson, coordinator for social science special events. “Today is one of our biggest discussions because it’s the first since the election results.”

Johnson said that the informal get-togethers offer a time for colleagues to discuss current issues in politics.

During the Nov. 13 discussion, Smith spoke first. He said he has been a part of so many electoral discussions that he's lost count of how many he has participated in. However, Smith began his presentation with a quote by Peter Galderisi from the book, "Divided Government." According to Smith, this is the same quote he starts off with at every electoral discussion. “A major recession is a costly rule. It does not matter who wins. A generic republican will always beat a generic democrat,” Smith read.

“This is not so much an Obama victory, but a Democratic victory as well,” Smith said. He talked about how race wasn’t the only thing that made Obama different and that his influence on the young voters made a big difference.

Smith also made a stance on his position for "yes" on Prop 8, the state proposition that banned gay marriage in California. “I had a very heated argument with my daughter about this subject,” Smith said. “I find it offensive that this is considered a civil rights issue.”

There was an immediate response from the panel who all spoke at once, throwing out their feelings about whether the church and state owned marriage. There was also discussion on the movement to get Prop 8 over-turned. Tabb said that the reason this particular proposition has sparked such a reaction is because today’s youth is so open-minded that for them, "This is a clear fight for equality."

Professor Neely spoke next, and started off talking about his personal feelings about what he calls a “groundbreaking” election. “This election has affected me over the past week and I am not easily moved,” Neely said. “Obama as a person, who he is as a figure—a family man and a bunch of things put together—has formed the idea of change for the people. And that is remarkable.”

Neely also brought up his thoughts about John McCain as an opponent. The panel agreed that Obama was a good opponent for McCain, and thought that he was the best candidate for the Republican Party.

Neely’s presentation ended his thoughts with how anxious the Democratic Party was to get back into the White House. “I was one of those anxious Democrats [who was] waiting for change,” Professor Tabb said. “If it had not been for the economy, it might have been a different ballgame.”

Tabb said that the diversity in voters this year was far more noticeable than in other years, citing that the Latino vote rose 70 percent from last year.

Graduate student Susan Jones had the most to say about the panel’s comments during the open discussion. She spoke about how moving this election was and how she was brought to tears after Obama gave his speech on race called "A More Perfect Union" in March. Jones said she was in South Africa when Nelson Mandela was elected president, and said this year’s election made her feel as empowered as she did when she saw Mandela make history.

“I agree that this was the most groundbreaking election, not only for our country, but for the entire world,” Jones said.