Obama: Maybe we shouldn't have

“[When he won] I was happy because of his youth, of his color and when I get kids they don’t only have to say they want to be a doctor or a lawyer, they can now say they want to be president. The sky’s the limit. I don’t believe in everything he stands for but that day meant a lot to me.”

This reaction to President Barack Obama's election seems to be the overwhelming sentiment across the board for first time black voters. President Barack Obama won 95 percent of the black vote. But the question still remains, was black support based on genuine belief in his policies or because he was the underdog?

“Hell yes, it was!” Reuel Pompey replied this time. Though the 2008 Presidential Election was his first time voting, Mr. Pompey chose not to vote anyone into presidency.

"I didn’t vote for anyone. Obama believes in abortion and I couldn’t get over it. McCain was just too old."

His sister, on the other hand, voted for Obama and admits to giving into their shared skin color rather than his politics.

"Yeah, toward the end I joined the hype. It was a major point in history, it’s a black man. At the polls they didn’t talk about anybody else. We were expected to vote for Obama."

Barack Obama was not Michelle Pompey's first choice. "In the preliminaries I voted for Hillary Clinton. I remember when the Clinton's were in power nothing was wrong. So I wanted another Clinton in there." But in the end, she too obviously gave into the national feeling of black solidarity rather than what she felt was best for the country.

"Because I was gonna vote democratic anyhow. And it was time for a change and we needed fresh blood," she continued, "I was happy. I played a part in history, I would always remember it."

Mariel Parris, another first time black student voter didn't even care about her vote until it was too late. “[I voted for Obama] because my mother told me to. I did care who won, because I didn’t think that my vote would make a difference.” And after all was said and done her feelings were only strengthened.

"It was such a landslide that I don’t real like my vote counted anyway. I mean McCain had the lead for a while and Obama still lapsed him so it’s not his performance that has discouraged me but my lack of voice. I think, like everyone else, I expected too much in an unrealistic time span, so yeah I can't help feeling a little discouraged."

Despite Obama being the lesser of two evils for many black voters, for others he was the first and only choice.

Vijay Ramcharitar, a 20-year old student at Hofstra was behind Barack Obama since his sudden rise to fame and favor. Of Caribbean Indian descent, Ramcharitar was more enthusiastic about Obama's election to president that many black student voters.

“Word for word, ‘thank you lord’ [was my first reaction]. I was able to sleep much better that night knowing some half dead zombie and a psychopath Tina Fey look-a-like were denied their chance at the white house. Anyone who uses the joke ‘what’s the difference between a pit-bull and hockey mom?’ should be rejected from the ballot immediately."

Conversely, Parris's reaction to finding out of Obama's success was, "He won, oh s**t, we didn’t think it through.” She then laughed heartily. "I never thought of it that way but I think we just thought that we needed a black person in there but we never really thought about what he would do after that. So yeah my first thought was, "Oh shit."