Reporting by Heather Scarlett

     John McCain held a rally at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio on Oct. 19, and the diversity at the rally was similar to the diversity within the Republican Party—little to nonexistent.
     Only a few African-Americans were present in the crowd of about 6,000 people at the rally, and those who were in attendance confirmed that they had not yet decided to vote for McCain as president.
     Bryan Curtiss, a 22-year-old broadcast major at Otterbein, stood in line for more than an hour outside the Rike Center convention hall just waiting to enter the rally. He also had to go through metal detectors and have security guards inspect his bag just for the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Republican candidate.
     Curtiss said he is a Republican because he favors the values of the party, and he hoped to hear McCain’s platform for the next four years during his speech. McCain’s speech should reflect “what people believe” as Republicans, he said.
     Curtiss said he would like to see the Republican Party resolve the problems with the economy and the war.
     Curtiss added even though he is black, voting for McCain over Sen. Barack Obama is not a problem because he doesn’t think about race when he is voting.
     “I favor McCain because he has more experience in leadership,” he said.
     Curtiss said other reasons for his choice to vote Republican are that he likes the values of George W. Bush’s administration, and Ohio has been considered a red state in favor of the GOP in the past few years.
     “I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for in McCain as the Republican candidate,” Curtiss said about why he attended the rally.
     Lambert Eigbedion, a 49-year-old Westerville resident, said even as a registered Democrat, he was curious to hear McCain speak.
     “I’m open to listening to what he has to say,” he said.
     Eigbedion said he hoped to hear McCain speak about the economy because that is the issue he is most concerned about for this election.
     “I always felt that the Democratic platform is more compassionate,” he said. “They try to help the average man.”
     Eigbedion said he believes Republicans are interfering too much in the current economy and that their policies are failing.
     Randy Legair, a 43-year-old project manager from Westerville, said he does not affiliate himself with either party, but he did vote for Bush in the last two elections.
     Legair said he wasn’t sure about voting for McCain yet.
     After hearing McCain’s speech at Otterbein, Legair said he was “looking for something a little bit more substantial.”
     Legair explained he was not fond of McCain’s ideas about taxes because mortgages wouldn’t get lowered and his own personal pay grade would not be helped.
     “I don’t see anything that will make a difference for me,” he said.
     Something Legair does like about McCain is the candidate’s idea to save American jobs.
     Legair said when he votes he thinks about ideology and not the race of the candidate.
     “Race has nothing to do with the reason I’m voting,” he said.